Even if you aren’t normally a fan of beauty pageants, the 2025 Miss Universe pageant had a little something for everyone. The event was held in Bangkok, Thailand and featured representatives from over 100 countries competing for the crown. But it wasn’t all bathing suits and evening gowns. Behind the scenes, there was plenty of drama, including a scary onstage fall for one of the contestants.
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In case you missed it, here are four things that made the 2025 Miss Universe Pageant better than any reality show on television right now.
It All Started With Miss Mexico
The drama started even before the first contestant stepped on stage, when Miss Mexico, Fatima Bosch, was called out by a Miss Universe official in front of the rest of the contestants during a live-stream event for not fulfilling her obligation to promote the pageant.
“Mexico, where are you?” asked Nawat Itsaragrisil, a Thai businessman who co-owns the Miss Universe Organization. “If you follow the order from your national director, you’re a dumb head.”
Although his comments left the crowd speechless, Miss Mexico stood up to him, calling him out for disrespecting her. Itsaragrisil called security, but she continued to speak her mind and then walked out of the room on her own, followed by several of her fellow contestants in a sign of solidarity.
In the end, Itsaragrisil apologized to Miss Mexico and her team for the incident during the pageant, saying that the pressure of putting on a perfect event got the best of him.
There Go The Judges
A week after the confrontation between Miss Mexico and Nawat Itsaragrisil, two pageant judges resigned after they accused organizers of the event of rigging the competition selecting the top candidates before the judges had a chance to score them.
Then There Was Miss Jamaica
The drama continued into the competition when Miss Jamaica, Gabrielle Henry, fell off the stage during the preliminary evening gown competition on Nov. 19. She was carried out of the theater on a stretcher and taken to the hospital for treatment. Although she had to miss the final round of competition, pageant officials confirmed on Instagram that Henry had no broken bones or other life-threatening injuries from the fall.
“She Was Robbed!”
In the end, Miss Mexico walked away with the title of Miss Universe, and while she was all smiles at the news of her victory, not everyone was rooting for her. If you don’t believe us, just Google, “Did Miss Mexico deserve to win?” There were plenty of people on social media who believed Olivia Yace, Miss Côte D’Ivoire, was robbed of the crown. Fans thought that she was not only beautiful, but also loved her answer to the question about what she would do with her Miss Universe title and platform to help women and girls.
“There’s no way that she was fourth runner-up,” said @lub93 on TikTok.
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