Miss Grand Thailand pageant contestant Kamolwan Chanago overcame an awkward onstage moment when her teeth fell out during her speech.
Chanago, 18, was speaking on stage during the Miss Grand Thailand 2026 preliminaries when her veneers fell out on Wednesday, March 25. When her teeth dislodged, her words became briefly unintelligible before she smoothly turned her head away from the cameras, adjusting the piece in her mouth in a graceful recovery. She subsequently ambled across the stage with poise, appearing unshaken by the malfunction as she modeled her pink gown and then exited.
“She handled this better than most of us handle a bad hair day. Is this the most iconic pageant moment ever?” a spectator said, according to the Associated Press.
Another person applauded Chanago’s reaction to the gaffe, chiming in, “How embarrassing. I would die. It’s so impressive she carried on like nothing had happened.”
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The moment went viral online, with social media users similarly praising Chanago for recovering from the awkwardness.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Miss Grand International addressed the ordeal in a statement to People.
“During her onstage introduction, Kamolwan Chanago experienced a minor and unexpected incident in which her veneer teeth became dislodged,” the statement read. “She handled the situation with professionalism and composure, and the event continued smoothly without disruption. We are proud of her confidence and stage presence throughout the competition.”
The pageant features 77 Thai women competing to become Miss Grand Thailand 2026, with the winner set to move on to the Miss Grand International 2026 pageant in India in October. The Miss Grand Thailand pageant will conclude on Saturday, March 28, in Bangkok.
LeAnn Rimes suffered a similar teeth mishap in June 2025 when her bridge fell out mid-performance.
“We’re going to do a little story time about how the show must go on,” the country singer, 43, told her fans in an Instagram video at the time. “And this is the most epic example of how the show must go on.”
Rimes recounted how the previous night she was singing her hit “One Way Ticket” when she felt “something pop in [her] mouth.”
“If you’ve been around, you know I’ve had a lot of dental surgeries, and I have a bridge in the front,” she explained. “It fell out in the middle of my song last night.”
Although Rimes’ initial reaction was to “panic,” she ultimately asked the audience to “hold on” while she “ran to the side of the stage and put it back in, popped it back in and then just went on singing.”
“For the rest of the show, I was literally … pushing my teeth in every couple lines and singing, which, by the way, I never knew how many f’s and th’s and sh’s I have in my songs!” she noted, calling it “the most epic experience ever.”
“I don’t usually have firsts in my career. That was a first,” she quipped, adding that she hoped it would also be “a last.”
Rimes pointed out there “wasn’t a f–king thing” she could do about the situation other than to “walk off or hold my teeth in and sing,” so she “just ran with it.”
“In case anybody has an issue on stage ever and feels embarrassed by it, just watch this video again, and it’ll remind you that the show can go on even amid sheer utter embarrassment,” she concluded. “You just got to be real with people.”