The Controversial Aftermath of the 2020 Miss Universe Pageant

As former Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach said during her reign, the Filipinos love our 3 B’s – basketball, boxing and beauty pageants. During the main events of these 3 B’s, streets are clear, crime rates are lower and most communities are unusually quiet. So one can just imagine how sad and angry Filipinos are when our country doesn’t make the cut. But surprise, surprise! That’s not the only issue jamming the airwaves nowadays…

This year, the delayed 69^th edition of the Miss Universe Pageant happened at the Seminole Hardrock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida in the United States.  Having 74 representatives, several heads shy of the usual number of contestants, the much awaited pageant put the world on hold until the crowning of Miss Mexico, Andrea Meza as the new Miss Universe. Her court consists of Miss Brazil Julia Gama (1^st runner-up), Miss Peru Janick Maceta (2^nd Runner-up), Miss India Adline Castelino (3^rd Runner-up) and Miss Dominican Reepublic Kimberly Jimenez (4^th Runner-up)

There were many questions after the pageant – What happened to Miss Thailand? What happened to Miss USA? To Miss Colombia …. and of course – What happened to Miss Philippines? She gave a good performance in the preliminaries but surprisingly did a lack-luster job during Finals night…Speculations from wardrobe malfunction to getting bad news backstage went on the internet trying to justify why she didn’t enter Top 5 but  the story behind that has yet to unfold. 

What’s more interesting were the controversies that came out after the pageant:

… that Andrea Meza was already married ..

… that the seemingly all Latina winners (except for India) were because of the    composition of judges including past winner Zuleyka Rivera, Miss Universe 2006 from Puerto Rico

… that Miss South Africa cried because of she didn't make it.…

But the biggest controversy was the word war between the Miss Universe Organization Canada and world-renowned fashion designer Michael Cinco, who happens to be Filipino. So to go through the situation briefly ..

       … a message on social media coming from one of the team members of Miss Universe Organization Canada (Ms.UOC) accused Michael Cinco of delivering the gowns late and sabotaged their candidate’s chance of winning the title;

      …. After failed attempts to settle things privately with Ms.UOC, Michael Cinco went to social media to reveal the real details on how the Canadian group has treated him and other Filipino designers disrespectfully ..

        … so, after a social media field day of reactions and colourful language… Nova Stevens  went to social media to say her piece … which unfortunately got some more negative comments from the netizens.

         … then, another Filipino designer, Rhian Fernandez shared his experience with the Canadian organization in 2016 when he wasn’t given enough time to create the gown for Canadian candidate Siera Bearchell (who now has become his friend)and 2018 when after the organization asked him to create several gowns forthe pageant, none was worn on the day of the event

          …. This prompted Siera Bearchell now a famous content producer and social media influencer, to talk about her Miss Universe Organization Canada experience and divulged the lack of preparation and proper communication which had a number of former title holders saying that they don’t want to have anything to do with the organizaton.

           … AND NOW, 2 days ago, the Miss Universe Organization Canada sent their apologies to Michael Cinco and dispels their connection with the one who made claims on social media about Michael Cinco.

Will this be the final thing we’ll here about this issue? I highly doubt it. Because once its on the net, it will be there for a very long time. So let’s wait and see.

HOWEVER, there's one good thing that's circulating over the the net about our candidate Rabiya Mateo - First, is that she has begun her search for her long lost father in the U.S., AND ... Second, she was approached by Victoria Secret to walk the runway for the international being the second Filipina to walk the runway after Kelsey Merrit and second Filipina beauty queen to endorse the brand after Janine Tugonon (Miss Universe 2012 first runner-up). Here's hoping that it's not fake news. 

I’m sure there’s more lounging controversies out there that you probably have stumbled on to so please send us these stories here or drop us a message on our facebook page.