JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – A Miss South Africa hopeful has seen her dream go up in smoke almost overnight after body-shaming and racist tweets she sent out six years ago surfaced.

Bianca Schoombee, who is white, was forced to issue a public apology on Wednesday saying she had “dealt with my past by praying”.

When her apology appeared not to have helped matters, she deleted her Twitter account entirely.

“In light of recent events regarding my tweets from six years ago, I would like to profusely apologise for putting it out into the universe then. However, I would like to make you all aware that I have grown as a person, this is no longer who I am or what I stand for,” Schoombee said in a statement released on Twitter before she took down the account.

The 21-year-old first won everyone over when she posted her virtual Miss South Africa video entry on Twitter on Saturday.

Models who wish to contest for Miss South Africa were required to post a short introduction video on social media explaining why they believe they should take over the crown from Sasha Lee Laurel.

In addition to having to post their introduction video on social media using the hashtag #MissSA2020 and tagging @Official Miss South Africa in their posts, entrants had to give the judging panel and organisation consent to do any and all necessary background checks.

Schoombee’s video entry made her an early front-runner, with over 2,200 people liking her post on Twitter. In the video, she said she is “ready to lead, ready to inspire and ready to ignite the fire in every South African woman to burn through our justice system.”

Her newfound fame however turned to woe when a tweet she posted in 2014 commenting on a black boy’s skin colour was unearthed. This turned the spotlight on more of her tweets.

Schoombee also made jibes against “fat” people and repeatedly used the word “nigga”.

“Real niggas don’t let the microwave hit 0:00,” she said in one.

A picture of a black boy posing for a group photo with some white children, believed to be a school photoshoot, showed the background around the boy had been changed to white on the image.

Schoombee posted the picture in September 2014 with the caption: “He’s so black they had to change the background to white lfmaooo.”

Some of her tweets mocked people with weight problems, and some make for awkward reading.

“You’re not popular, your vagina is,” she said in a tweet with a date stamp of March 28, 2013.

“I’m not saying you are fat but if I had to pick five of the fattest people I could think of, you would be three of them,” she said in another tweet, now since deleted.

In another tweet, she said: “Ever seen an ugly woman with 3 kids or more kids, and wonder to yourself: ‘Who keeps f***** you?!’”

In her apology on Wednesday, Schoombee said: “It’s important to forgive yourself. I really hope that SA can forgive me for these immature posts, as I have forgiven myself and moved on. I really do hope that you continue to support me as we all deserve a second chance. I love you South Africa. God bless.”

Schoombee said she was now using her social media positively “as a tool to better myself, to engage with friends and followers and to inspire.”

Not many were buying her mea-culpa though.

Miss South Africa CEO Stephanie Weil, in a statement following the furore, appeared to shut the door on Schoombee on Wednesday without mentioning her by name.

“There is good governance in place to ensure that Miss South Africa finalists and semi-finalists align with our values. Our rules state that any semi-finalist or finalist may not have been in any unsavoury or unethical incidents or conduct that may bring the organisers of the Miss South Africa pageant into disrepute. Unsavoury or unethical conduct includes, but is not limited to, bribery, racism, sexism, slander or libel,” Weil said.

“Bianca” was one of the top trends on Twitter in South Africa, and many were not convinced by her apology.

“An apology with ‘however’ in it is not really an apology, and it’s definitely not sincere Bianca,” one tweeted.

Said another Twitter user: “Bianca has forgiven herself and moved on. What a concept!”

And on her claims that she was young but had grown out of it, someone tweeted: “Racism is not a stage or phase.”

Schoombee had deleted her Twitter account by midday on Wednesday.