She's a diplomat's daughter, but that doesn't mean Sallie Toussaint keeps her opinions to herself. She recently represented the United States in the 1997 Miss World Pageant. She was a semifinalist in the pageant and was chosen as the Queen of the Americas. She has some definite views about that contest. You may not agree with everything she has to say, and you may even take strong exception to some of it, but we believe you will like Sallie Toussaint. She's one of a kind.

PNB: Sallie, you've just returned from the 1997 Miss World Pageant held in the Seychelles, an island nation. Where are the Seychelles?

Toussaint: The Seychelles are located north of Madagascar, smack dab in the middle of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia.

PNB: Compare the foreign contestants to American contestants.

Toussaint: There are many similarities. You see the ones that are very polished, and then there are many who are not polished. Also, most of the foreign contestants know very little about nutrition and exercise. The girls from the Western countries are more into health and fitness.

PNB: We know that Miss India, Diana Hayden, was the winner of the Miss World Pageant this year. Miss New Zealand, Lauralee Martinovich, was the first runner-up, and Miss South Africa, Jessica Motaung, was the second runner-up. In your opinion, which countries sent the best contestants?

Toussaint: As far as looks are concerned, I thought that Miss Puerto Rico was gorgeous. Miss New Zealand was definitely gorgeous. Aruba, Malaysia and Venezuela were beautiful.

PNB: Which woman was the strongest all-around contestant? Toussaint: I thought Miss Greece was very strong. She combined looks and personality. Miss India was an excellent contestant. She had a nice aura. PNB: In what areas of competition were you judged at the Miss World Pageant? Toussaint: We were judged in interview, swimsuit, costume and evening gown. PNB: Compare the Miss World Pageant with the Miss USA Pageant system.

Toussaint: Of course, the Miss World Pageant is more diversified. The different languages really separated us because you might have wanted to hang out with someone but you couldn't because of the language barrier. Also, the girls were a little bit more overweight than in the USA system.

PNB: Normally, the Miss World contestants travel together for a while before arriving at the pageant site. Where did the contestants meet this year?

Toussaint: The girls met in London and we stayed there for four or five days. We had a charity auction, and every contestant had to bring an item from her country that could be auctioned off. Only about ten were auctioned onstage. My statue of President Clinton was one of the ten chosen. That was interesting because no one wanted to buy him. He had a big head and a red nose and red cheeks, and he had a saxophone in his hand and a big smile on his face and a skinny body. It was really hilarious. I should have brought Elvis or Marilyn Monroe, because no one wanted to buy Clinton. Finally, a guy bought the statue of Clinton, but I think he had ulterior motives. I don't think he really wanted the statue. I think he wanted to have a date.

PNB: How much did he pay for the statue to try to impress you?

Toussaint: My statue went for $500, which was the starting point. Most of the other things went for $2,000 to $3,000, so I was upset about that, but I thought that it would probably be the same thing if an English person brought a statue of the Queen to America to be auctioned off. Probably no one would want her.