On Sunday, Catriona Gray was crowned as Miss Universe 2018 after a tough contest between 94 contestants in the 67th edition of the beauty pageant competition that was held in Bangkok this year.
24-year-old Catriona Gray is born in Australia and had entered her first pageant at the age of 5. She moved to the United States to pursue music at the Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts, according to a report in the Newsweek.
Catriona Gray is the fourth Filipino woman to win the crown. Apparently, the 24-year old received her crown from last year’s winner Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa.
In a first, this year’s winner was chosen by an all-female panel of judges which included Colombian-American CEO Liliana Gil Valletta, fashion designer Monique Lhuillier, Janaye Ingram, former Miss Universe winners Michelle McLean and Bui Simon, Iman Oubou, and Richelle Singson-Michael.
Just like last year, this year too the pageant was hosted by Steve Harvey for the third straight year and model Ashley Graham at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. Other than that, the global event also featured Grammy-winning RnB artist Ne-Yo performance. This year’s pageant was also praised for its diversity and inclusivity. Angela Ponce from Spain made history as the pageant’s first openly transgender contestant, and Rosa Montezuma represented Panama as its first indigenous Miss Universe contestant.
Notably, this year’s Top 5 who proceeded to the Q&A portion of the event included Catriona Gray (Miss Philippines), Kiara Ortega (Miss Puerto Rico), Tamaryn Green (Miss South Africa), Sthefany Gutierrez (Miss Venezuela) and H’Hen Nie (Miss Vietnam).
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