The pageant had been caught up in controversy after Republican presidential candidate and pageant owner Donald Trump

The pageant had been caught up in controversy after Republican presidential candidate and pageant owner Donald Trump said in his announcement speech: "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best; they're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
NBC and Univision dropped the pageant, and several participants opted out, but the pageant did find a new home on Reelz Channel. There was little mention of the recent Trump controversy apart from a judge noting vaguely that she was happy to be there supporting the contestants amid the "chaos of the past couple weeks."

And co-host Todd Newton noted at the start of the show that it the pageant had “become the most anticipated and what will be the greatest night in recent pageant history.”