The newly crowned Miss Universe, Puerto Rico's Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza, collapsed during a post-pageant news conference and was rushed off stage Sunday night.

Newly crowned Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza of Puerto Rico is carried offstage by a security guard after fainting following a news conference at the Miss Universe 2006 Pageant at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in this July 23, 2006 in this video frame grab. [Reuters]

Pageant officials said shortly afterward she had passed out.

"She's OK. She's fine," said pageant representative Lark Anton. "She got dizzy. Its very hot up here. Her dress is tight as you could see it was beaded and heavy. ... She passed out."

Earlier pageant officials had called "Is there a nurse in the house?" after Mendoza slumped during the media appearance.

The 55th Miss Universe contest was held at the fabled Shrine Auditorium near downtown Los Angeles. It was a homecoming of sorts. The first Miss Universe pageant was held about 25 miles (40 km) away in Long Beach, California, in 1952.