Miss Italy contestant receives death threats after competing with her infant daughter strapped to her chest

CHELSEA RITSCHEL IN NEW YORK

When beauty queen Alessia Spagnulo realised no one could take care of her infant daughter during the swimsuit portion of the Miss Italy contest - she decided to compete with her daughter strapped to her chest.

But the 24-year-old contestant has since received death threats for choosing to parade in front of the judges in a bathing suit and a baby sling.

According to Spagnulo, since competing, she has been the target of online-bullying after she said she was proud to be the first contestant in the history of the beauty pageant to compete with their baby.

Spagnulo said someone told her “you deserve to die for this,” while others said it was “unnatural” and she should “stick to being a housewife.”

The beauty contestant is understandably upset by the comments - especially because she had no choice but to care for her daughter during the competition.

She said: “I have never felt this kind of violence before but I am refusing to respond.”

According to Spagnulo, her only choice was to strap six-month-old Chloe to her chest after realising that her partner, who works in a paper factory, and her mother, who works as a nurse, were unavailable for childcare duties.

But despite offers from other contestants to take care of baby Chloe while she completed the swimsuit portion - Spagnulo said she thought: “Why should I hide her?”

And it turns out her choice paid off - judges chose Spagnulo, along with 17 other girls, to go through to the next round of the competition.

The honour marks a big step in accepting motherhood as a reality of life for many of these women - especially considering the 1987 Miss Italy winner Mirca Viola was stripped of her title after revealing she was a mother.

But the Miss Italy competition is happy to have her - according to Patrizia Mirigliani, the organiser of the contest, they are “happy to give everyone this opportunity and we reward beauty and talent.”

If Spagnulo does win the competition, she said she will dedicate it to Mirca.

“My message to other mothers is that your dreams can come true even if you have a child and the 1,000 tasks that come with it,” said the Miss Italy potential.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/miss-italy-contestant-alessia-spagnulo-daughter-carry-chest-death-threats-beauty-pageant-a8174206.html