Catriona Gray is the new Miss Universe. The 24-year-old Filipino Australian is the fourth Miss Philippines to win the crown, reports ABS-CBN.
Her victory comes just days after Miss USA, Sarah Rose Summers, apologized for mocking Miss Vietnam and Miss Cambodia. Summers placed in the top 20, but did not advance further.
“I work a lot in the slums of Tondo, Manila and the life there is… it’s poor and very sad,” said Gray during the question and answer session. “And I’ve always taught myself to look for the beauty of it, to look for beauty in the faces of the children and to be grateful. And I would bring this aspect as a Miss Universe, to see situations with a silver lining, and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as a spokesperson. If I could teach also people to be grateful, we could have an amazing world where negativity could not grow and foster, and children would have a smile on their faces. Thank you.”
Miss Universe 2018 is… PHILIPPINES! pic.twitter.com/r2BkN8JpXh— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) December 17, 2018
Pia Wurtzbach won the Miss Universe title in 2015, the last Miss Philippines to win it.
Tamaryn Green of South Africa won first runner up, just missing becoming the second straight Miss South Africa to win the crown, according to CNN. Demi Leigh Nel Peters from South Africa won last year.
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