MR Gay Scotland has been stripped of his title after refusing to compete for the European prize in Stockholm.
Jamie Love objected to having to fund the £1,000 trip to the European contest and thought his time would be better spent attending a Pride event in Scotland.
The organisers of Mr Gay Europe responded by taking the 20-year old’s title away from him and asking him to return his sash.
The model’s manager, Ross Gunning, said he was “shocked” by the situation. Jamie, from Edinburgh, said he had expected the organisers of the competition to support his choice to attend the Pride event.
The organisers of Mr Gay Europe confirmed they had taken away Jamie’s Scottish title because it was only awarded on the condition that he would compete in the European competition.
Mr Gay Europe award titles in several European countries and then bring the national representatives together for the European-wide competition to find an overall winner.
Ross said he was surprised at how Mr Gay Europe had treated him Jamie.
He said: “I was shocked that Mr Gay Europe didn’t fund the trip. I would have thought if they wanted Jamie to come they would pay for it.
“Mr Gay Europe weren’t giving Jamie any promotion on their social media, they weren’t promoting us. He was asked to do West Lothian Pride event, and he thought, ‘I’d rather do that’.”
Jamie said: “I was asked to support young LGBTI people in Scotland at a voluntary event called West Lothian Pride this weekend, when Mr Gay Europe is taking place.
“I expected Mr Gay Europe to support me in attending this.
“When I told them that I would not be attending the competition they basically said, ‘cool, give back your sash’”.
Stuart Hatton, Managing Director for Mr Gay Europe, said: “Jamie’s title of Mr Gay Scotland was tied in to him representing his country in the competition.
“Jamie did not win the title of Mr Gay Scotland 2016, he applied online alongside other candidates from the UK and he was chosen as the Mr Gay Europe representative for Scotland and was therefore our Scottish delegate.
“If Jamie or indeed anyone else would like to call themselves Mr Gay Scotland that is up to them, but it cannot be associated with Mr Gay Europe.”
He added: “Contestants were told that they would have to pay for their travel to the competition, but once within the care of Mr Gay Europe all accommodation, food, expenses and travel throughout the competition stay would be paid for by The Mr Gay Europe company.”
Mr Gay Europe starts tomorrow (fri) where delegates are invited to take part in Stockholm Pride.
The contestants then journey through Northern Scandinavia to Norway, where the finale occurs next Friday.
