Television In 2016, Nawat was reported by Miss Iceland 2015, Arna Ýr Jónsdóttir to have said that "she's too fat and needed to lose weight" prior to the finals of Miss Grand International 2016 held in Las Vegas on October 25, 2016,[5] eventually dropping out of the pageant before the coronation due to the controversy.

In a statement, Nawat said that they give similar advice to other contestants who asked what should they do to improve in order to win.

Nawat eventually said that he had spoken with Jónsdóttir along with the company's vice president and clarified matters.

Nawat has also expressed displeasure[7] about the behavior of Filipino pageant fans online.

These incidents include accusations of Nawat rigging the results of Miss Grand International, of him having a bias against Filipina contestants,[8][9] an Instagram post where Nawat insinuated that the coronation of Catriona Gray as Miss Universe 2018 was a rigged affair[10] and saying that Miss Philippines 2018 didn't make it due to the rest of the contestants being better than her.