The 66th edition of Miss Universe has come and gone and the world has a new queen in Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters who has been crowned as the latest Miss Universe 2017. Nel-Peters’ poignant speech and attributes were enough to beat out for the crown first runner-up Miss Colombia Laura González and second runner-up Miss Jamaica Davina Bennett last Sunday night in Las Vegas.
The South African beauty is 22-years-old and she recently earned a degree in business management at the North-West University. During her pre-taped interview, the Western Cape native talked about the problematic violence that runs rampant in her area and how she was held at gunpoint once by her captor.
Let’s welcome #MissUniverse 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters from South Africa to the sisterhood! 👑 pic.twitter.com/Sw0SDQZjOJ
— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) November 27, 2017
The traumatic experience made Nel-Peters passionate about encouraging self-defense among women. She has dedicated herself to train women in this field and has promised to use the Miss Universe platform to help women everywhere with the self-defense program that she helped develop and her intrinsic passion.
Nel-Peters also touched the subject of gender wealth gaps during the competition’s Q&A section, the newly crowned Miss Universe brought up the subject when asked what was the most important issue facing women in the workplace. “In some places, women get paid 75% of what men earn for doing the same job, working the same hours — and I do not believe that this is right,” she said. “I think we should have equal work for equal pay for women all over the world.”
Congratulations to Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, the winner of the 2017 #MissUniverse competition! pic.twitter.com/JYuQYc3Lvo
— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) November 27, 2017
The Colombian and Jamaican runner-ups also impressed judges during the Q&A segment giving the South African woman a run for her money, Gonzalez and Bennett answered questions regarding how to talk to children on delicate subjects like terrorism and sexual harassment respectively.
“Sexual harassment is a form of abuse and no abuse should be tolerated whether in the workplace or in society,” Bennett said. “I believe that men and women should come together and be professional.” The competition’s top 13 finalists were Thailand, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Spain, Ireland, Croatia, Great Britain, USA, Brazil, Canada, Philippines, Venezuela, and China.
A woman of substance and true beauty… Congrats to Davina Bennett who WONDERFULLY represented Jamaica on the Miss Universe stage tonight and won second place👏🏾 pic.twitter.com/n6R3GMYQ8h
— Blk Girl Culture (@blkgirlculture) November 27, 2017
For the United States, Washington D.C. native Kára McCullough was the one in charge of representing the country. Almost 100 women from all over the world traveled this year to compete for the crown and this time Steve Harvey didn’t mess up when announcing the winner, probably because it was already his third time hosting and he had Fergie and Rachel Platten spotting him on stage.
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Article inspired by MSN // Miss South Africa is crowned Miss Universe 2017