This is the answer that made Alicia Machado the winner of Miss Universe 1996 and the pageant question that made her cry in 2023: “I’d do it all the same”

One of the most memorable winners in the history of Miss Universe is the Venezuelan Alicia Machado, who was crowned the most beautiful woman in the world in 1996.

But her victory was not easy because she had to face criticism from Donald Trump, the tycoon who owned the pageant and who publicly humiliated her for gaining weight after winning the crown.

“They don’t like what I talk about on reality TV”: Alicia Machado and the controversial statements that left her out of Telemundo

Before she went through that difficult phase, Alicia knew how to win over the jury of the competition that catapulted her to international fame.

What was Alicia Machado’s response in 1996?

The question they asked Alicia Machado at the competition was: What would you rather be rich, intelligent or beautiful? To which she responded with her typical charisma: “I would choose to be smart, because with intelligence you can be rich and beautiful, both. Intelligence makes you more beautiful inside and out, you can achieve many things with it,” he replied. Those words ensured his victory in the competition, reminds La Prensa.

Alicia Machado admits that she was a victim of physical violence by José Manuel Figueroa, but the Mexican defends that she threatened him with a knife

Alicia Machado cries as she recalls her time at Miss Universe

Now, 28 years later, the former beauty queen does not forget her time at Miss Universe and remembers it with emotion and through tears.

In an interview for the show “En Casa con Telemundo”, the 46-year-old actress told what the competition meant to her and how she experiences it now.

“For me, Miss Universe is something that will always follow me even though I feel that at this moment in my life, in 2023, I feel that I am the antimiss of the Universe“I may have been Miss Universe, but my personality or my lifestyle or the talent that I wanted to use within me didn’t fit what a lot of people supposedly wanted me to be,” she said.

Alicia also admitted that it was a difficult time because of the circumstances she had to live through and the pressure she suffered from Trump.

Photo of Alicia Machado Confirming She’s at Her Best at 46: Actress Flashes Futuristic Look in Metallic Fabric Jumpsuit

“It was a difficult time for those who were there, for those who bought the company in 96-97. As always, changes are coming. “I was thinking about it today and told someone here at Telemundo that God sent me tough tests, but it must be because he thinks I’m a strong person,” he said.

She also commented that for her Miss Universe is the beginning of her artistic career, not the end. “For many people, Miss Universe was like a culmination or an achievement, for me it was the beginning. For me, it was a door that opened an opportunity to stand out as the artist that I am, in what I have dedicated myself to these years,” she noted.

When host Carlos Adyan asked him What would I say to Alice from that moment in the competition?, the actress replied that she would not tell him anything else. I would advise you to do everything the same, to compete in the same way.

“Keep it all the same, compete the same, work the same, Alicia. Tell Trump no anyway. If you must gain weight, gain weight, come back and lose weight. Do everything the same, nothing happens,” she said, deeply moved, her voice broken and crying.

The presenter stood up to hug her, while the Venezuelan girl was touched by the question because she had never been asked that question.

At the end, she expressed that she was very grateful to the public “who have seen me grow during all these years”. (AND)