The most important beauty pageant in the world is, without a doubt, Miss Universea contest in which women from all countries compete, showing their intelligence, charisma, poise and beauty, to obtain the crown of the most beautiful woman on the planet.
Throughout its history, the contest has evolved and has opened itself to new ideologies such as allowing the participation of married women with children; as well as transgender women; However, it has also experienced moments of scandal, controversy and tension.
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Here we will tell you the main scandals that have marked this beauty pageant seen by millions of people every year.
Fátima Bosch vs Nawat Itsaragrisil
The most recent scandal occurred within the framework of Miss Universe 2025 held in Thailand, between the representative of Mexico, Fátima Bosch and the director of Miss Grand International and organizer of the pageant, Nawat Itsaragrisil.
Nawat insulted Bosch, calling her ‘dumb’, in addition to haughtily demanding that she not have made any publications about the contest on her social networks and tried to silence her when she confronted him.
The Mexican left the room where they were, along with other misses who joined her, and later declared that the manager had disrespected her and that she would not let anyone silence her voice or humiliate her.
Inclusion of Ángela Ponce, first transgender woman
In 2018, Ángela Ponce became the first transgender woman allowed to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, representing Spain.
Her presence marked a before and after in the history of the iconic beauty pageant due to its significance in opening up to new ideologies; However, it also unleashed strong criticism and reactions from transphobic groups who did not consider it correct.
Since 2023, Miss Universe has allowed married women with children to compete in the pageant, which inflamed the most conservative groups, considering that the changes broke with the essence, without seeing it as progress.
Steve Harvey names the wrong winner
One of the most remembered moments in the history of Miss Universe is, without a doubt, the day when presenter Steve Harvey made the mistake of naming Miss Colombia as the winner of the pageant in 2015, when the real Miss Universe was Miss Philippines.
Harvey reflected for a moment on his mistake and then addressed the audience to rectify that what he meant was that Miss Colombia was the first eliminated and the (now) true queen was Miss Philippines.
The decomposed face of the representative of Colombia and sadness is her eyes; As well as the surprise for the Filipino, they were marked in the history of Miss Universe and in Harvey’s career, of course.
Donald Trump being a real jerk with Alicia Machado
One of the moments that caused the most outrage in the history of Miss Universe is undoubtedly the scandal between Venezuelan Alicia Machado and the now president of the United States and former owner of the pageant, Donald Trump.
In 1996, Alicia Machado arrived at the most important beauty pageant in the world as Miss Venezuela and after the tests, she took the Miss Universe crown.
At only 19 years old, winning the title was just the beginning of a nightmare for Machado, because after a few months, he began to suffer harassment from Trump for an obvious weight gain.
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The magnate made a series of statements to the press in which he assured that Alicia had ‘gained too much weight’ and that this was ruining the image of the contest; Furthermore, not satisfied, he ordered that he compulsorily attend an exercise session in front of the cameras.
The situation went beyond limits when, during said broadcast, Trump called Alicia Machado ‘Miss Piggy’ y ‘Miss Housekeeping’nicknames that she denounced as humiliating and for which she claims to have developed eating disorders.