Not one person out there can claim that this year has been a good one for Miss USA, both in terms of what regards the pageant and also in what concerns the beauty queens. Neither can anyone say that Donald Trump and NBC (co-owners of the Miss USA and Miss World Organizations) have had it easy, especially when one knows the scandals that shook the committee to its very core.

First, there was Tara Conner - the current Miss USA - who had to be sent to rehab because she had been too 'indiscreet' on her public outings in clubs and bars. The Donald decided to let her keep her tiara and her title and ordered her to undergo a rehabilitation program, just to make an example out of her situation.

Then, there was Katie Blair's - Miss Teen USA - turn to be in trouble as she also partied with Conner and had her name dragged into the mess. She, too, was suspected of underage drinking and indecent behavior in public (namely, getting it on with Tara) and the whispers got so loud that Mothers Against Drunk Driving (for which Blair was a spokesperson) had to ditch her.

Enter (unwillingly) Miss Nevada! The photos of her and her girlfriends kissing and simulating sexual acts quickly became common knowledge and, considering their raunchy content, Trump had no other choice (or so he said) than to strip her of the title. Reading all this, one could think that Miss New Jersey quitting of her own accord is not such a huge scandal after all.

And it's not! But it just goes to prove that Miss USA is going through a serious crisis. Yesterday, Ashley Harder, the 20-year-old beauty that until now held the title, announced that she was stepping back from her responsibilities because she was pregnant. She also announced that her baby is to come this late summer and that she would marry her now live-in boyfriend in a short period of time.

Harder will be replaced by runner-up Erin Abrahamson, who has already been informed of the modification. However, Harder insisted with the media that her pregnancy was a 'life decision' she and her 28-year-old boyfriend made together and that it shouldn't be 'made out as yet another pageant scandal'.