Fact-check debunks viral claim about ‘Sri Lankan teacher’ in bikini pageant
A viral social media claim alleging that a Sri Lankan English teacher from a leading girls’ school represented Sri Lanka at an international beauty pageant in Malaysia while wearing a bikini has been debunked by fact-checking organisation Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka.
The fact-check found that the woman featured in the viral posts is not Sri Lankan and has no connection to a school in Sri Lanka.
According to the investigation, the woman is Jeyme Stefanyh Hernández Reina from San Juan Chamelco in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.
She participated in the “Nuestra Belleza Monja Blanca 2026–2027” beauty pageant held in Cobán, Guatemala, on July 11, 2026. The event was a local pageant organised by municipalities in the Alta Verapaz province and was not an international competition held in Malaysia, as claimed in the viral posts.
Fact Crescendo said the contestant herself identified her hometown and background in videos shared on her official social media accounts, confirming that she is from Guatemala.
The fact-check also found no evidence to support claims that the woman is an English teacher at a prominent Sri Lankan girls’ school or that disciplinary action had been sought against her by fellow teachers.
It concluded that the viral posts had falsely used images and videos of the Guatemalan contestant to mislead Sri Lankan social media users by portraying her as a local teacher.
Fact Crescendo therefore rated the claim as false. (Newswire)
Fact Check
Viral video claiming to show a Sri Lankan teacher in a swimsuit are false.
ශ්රී ලාංකික ගුරුවරියක් විදේශීය රූ රැජිණ තරඟයකට පිහිනුම් ඇඳුමෙන් සැරසී සහභාගී වූ බවට සමාජ මාධ්යවල හුවමාරු වන පුවත සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම අසත්යයි.
Via @factcrescendosl pic.twitter.com/l4FlMuOSak— Sri Lanka Tweet
(@SriLankaTweet) July 22, 2026
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