Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch Won Miss Universe
On Thursday night, Miss Mexico, a.k.a. Fátima Bosch Fernández, was crowned Miss Universe, two weeks after igniting a walkout from the pageant. Addressing the media after her win — which was met with resounding cheers from the audience — Bosch said she hoped she would be remembered as “a person that changed a little bit the prototype of what is a Miss Universe and a real person that gives the heart.”
It was quite a dramatic year for the international pageant, which was previously owned by Donald Trump. During the early stages of the competition on November 4, Bosch and several other contestants walked out after she was berated by a Thai pageant executive during a livestreamed sashing ceremony. After video of the incident, which showed Nawat Itsaragrisil admonishing Bosch for not posting content from a sponsored photo shoot and calling her a “dummy,” went viral, Itsaragrisil issued a tearful apology while fans and other pageant contestants rallied around Bosch.
The walkout wasn’t the only dramatic moment to emerge from this year’s Miss Universe, which has seen two judges and the president of the selection committee resign, with one accusing the competition of being rigged. (The organization denied those claims.) Then on Wednesday, during the evening-gown portion, Miss Jamaica Gabrielle Henry fell off the stage and was taken away in a stretcher.
Throughout all the upheaval, Bosch continued to stand up for herself. In the final round of the pageant on Friday, she answered a question about how she would support women around the world if crowned Miss Universe. “I will put my voice in the power and the service of others,” she said. “The brave ones that stand up are the ones that will make history.”
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