Miss Universe 2023: Unfair competition, racist attacks, dual citizenship and even visa problems, these are the 5 candidates causing the most controversy

Miss Universe 2023 is a historic event for several reasons. For the first time, it will be held in El Salvador, a Central American country that strives to project its image to the world and because it accepted candidates who are married and mothers, breaking the stereotype of the mandatory single status.

Miss Universe 2022 Winner: R’Bonney Gabriel is the current universal beauty queen who is bidding farewell to the title this Saturday, November 18

In addition, there is a plus size contestant and two transgender misses, showing that diversity and inclusion also characterize the pageant.

However, not everything is rosy at Miss Universe. Some of the candidates have been the subject of controversy for various reasons, from their nationality to their behavior.

Controversial candidates for Miss Universe 2023

These are some of the competition’s most controversial misses.

1. Miss Argentina

Yamile Luján Dajud is a model of Colombian origin. Her parents are from that country, and she was born in Argentina, the country where her father traveled to pursue a career as a doctor. The family then moved to Colombia, where Yamile grew up and participated in several beauty pageants, Semana points out.

She later returned to Argentina with the dream of being a beauty queen. However, some accuse her of having dual citizenship and of not faithfully representing her homeland.

2. Miss El Salvador

Isabella García-Manzo is the host of the event, but that does not exempt her from criticism. The Salvadoran company was accused of alleged “unfair competition”. As reported by Telemetro, a video was broadcast showing her being dressed by stylists who are not authorized by the Miss Universe organization. This led to calls for equality and accusations of favouritism.

3. Miss Dominican Republic

Mariana Downing, the young woman who rose to fame with her alleged romance with Marc Anthony, was questioned about her style on the catwalk. The beauty received harsh criticism after participating in the preliminary pageant held on November 15, even forcing the director of the Caribbean pageant to come to her defense, according to Listín Diario.

Who are the 10 silver finalists, what does it mean and how does it affect the winner of Miss Universe 2023?

“No one can criticize her dress because she looked beautiful, her dress was different, Mariana did a very good interview with the judges, so you drop the gloves without realizing it. Wait until they choose 20 of them, until they say on Saturday whether she qualified or not before they start judging and start accusing me,” Magali Flebes said in a video posted on her Instagram profile.

4. Miss China

Chinese candidate Qu Jia (23) could not participate in the Miss Universe pageant due to problems with a visa to enter El Salvador, the host country of the pageant. The organization of the competition announced in a statement that the young woman was excluded from the competition, according to El Heraldo newspaper.

Miss Universe 2023: Ecuador’s Delary Stoffers honors national railroad history in national costume parade

Qu Jia was crowned Miss China on October 22, so she had very little time to prepare and travel to the pageant. Her arrival in El Salvador was delayed and when she was finally able to enter the country, she had already lost more than a week of activities and rehearsals with the other contestants.

However, the organization gave her a chance for the future and confirmed that she will represent China at the 2024 beauty pageant.

5. Miss Spain

In 2023, the racial issue is still a source of controversy. Athenea Pérez, the representative of Spain, was exposed to racist attacks because of her African origin and was discriminated against because of her skin color, according to the section of Mag El Comercia.

The media point out that her father is from Spain and her mother is from Equatorial Guinea, and although she was born in a European country, she has suffered from racism since she was a child.

On the other hand, a similar case affects Miss Zimbabwe, Brooke Bruk-Jackson. With her, the situation is reversed, the young woman received criticism for being white.

Brooke was named the representative of her country in a ceremony that many did not like. The model was the only fair-skinned participant in the competition. “She does not represent the women of Zimbabwe, she was just born in the country, she is a foreigner,” is one of the criticisms against her, cited by Marca. (AND)