Philippines celebrates as Catriona Gray crowned Miss Universe

Philippines celebrates as Catriona Gray crowned Miss Universe

The Philippines’ Catriona Gray has been named Miss Universe 2018 in Bangkok, beating contestants from 93 other countries and delighting her home nation.

Ms Gray wore a sparkling red dress she said was inspired by a volcano in the Philippines as she was handed the crown to the delight of a roaring crowd that generally favoured south-east Asian contestants.

The 24-year-old singer and model said she wore red because “when I was 13 my mom said she had a dream that I would win Miss Universe in a red dress”.

She said her mother cried when they saw each other after she won the competition, the 67th Miss Universe pageant.

Ms Gray edged out first runner-up Tamaryn Green of South Africa and third-placed Sthefany Gutierrez of Venezuela.

She succeeds Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa.

In the Philippines, pageants are a popular attraction, and Ms Gray’s victory sparked celebrations across the country.

Miss Universe
Ms Gray’s dazzling gown was inspired by the Mayon volcano (AP)

According to Ms Gray, her gown’s design, with its lava colour and appearance, was influenced by Albay’s Mayon Volcano.

Ms Gray’s father is Australian, and she was born and grew up in Cairns, Australia. She studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the United States.

The office of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte was quick to congratulate Ms Gray, the fourth Filipina to be named Miss Universe.

He said: “Ms Gray truly made the entire Philippines proud when she sashayed on the global stage and showcased the genuine qualities defining a Filipina beauty: confidence, grace, intelligence and strength in the face of tough challenges.

“In her success, Miss Philippines has shown to the world that women in our country have the ability to turn dreams into reality through passion, diligence, determination and hard work.”

An early round of questioning touched on the issue of drugs, a controversial issue in the Philippines where Mr Duterte’s aggressive war on drugs has taken thousands of lives, many in what critics charge were extrajudicial executions.

Mr Duterte raised even more controversy when he recently joked that he smoked marijuana to deal with his busy schedule of meetings with other Asian leaders at a regional summit.

Thailand Miss Universe
Angela Ponce is the pageant’s first ever transgender contestant (AP)

This year’s Miss Universe competition included the first-ever transgender contestant, Angela Ponce of Spain. She said in a video presentation that it was not important for her to win but was more important for her “to be here”.

One of the few controversies of this year’s contest involved Miss United States, Sarah Rose Summers, seeming to mock contestants from Cambodia and Vietnam over their English language skills. Summers apologised.

The finale was again hosted by Steve Harvey, who infamously announced the wrong winner in the 2015 contest.

He joked briefly about the incident in exchanges with contestants and said: “You all can’t let that go”, and: “I’m still here.”

The theme of this year’s pageant was “Empowered Women” and was judged by seven women, including former pageant winners, businesswomen and a fashion designer.

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