Fátima Bosch, 25, was named the winner of the 74th annual Miss Universe competition in Bangkok on Friday morning local time (Thursday night in the US). She was crowned by Miss Universe 2024 Victoria Kjær Theilvig, the first woman from Denmark to win the tit
In second place was Miss Thailand Veena Praveenar Singh, followed by Miss Venezuela Stephany Abasali and Miss Philippines Ahtisa Manalo. Olivia Yacé, Miss Côte d’Ivoire, placed fourth runner-up.
From controversy to queen
Bosch’s crowning comes after weeks of scandal surrounding the Miss Universe competition, which kicked off with a confrontation of her own.
On November 4, the very first day of the pageant, Miss Thailand director Nawat Itsaragrisil, who hosted Miss Universe 2025, got into an argument with Bosch over a sponsorship event. Their exchange was caught on the Miss Thailand Facebook livestream and quickly went viral.
Itsaragrisil was criticizing the Miss Mexico team when he appeared to tell Bosch, “If you listen to your director, you’re a dumbhead.” Itsaragrisil later told reporters that the word he had used was “damage.”
When Bosch tried to speak up, Itsaragrisil replied: “I did not give you an opportunity to talk.”
“I have a voice,” Bosch told him. “You are not respecting me as a woman.”
Itsaragrisil then called security on Bosch, which prompted multiple Miss Universe contestants to walk out of the room in a show of support. The director demanded that the contestants return to their seats, saying: “If anyone wants to continue the contest, sit down.”
Itsaragrisil apologized for the incident in a press conference the following day. “I am human,” he told reporters. “I didn’t want to do anything like that.”
There was speculation as to whether Bosch would choose to continue in the competition. In a November 6 Instagram post, the pageant queen told her fans: “Mexicans don’t give up because giving up has never been part of our history.”
Miss Universe president Raul Rocha announced on the same day of the confrontation that he would restrict Itsaragrisil from attending future Miss Universe 2025 events. However, the director was photographed at many of the pageant’s events leading up to the crowning. He was also thanked during the live finals and shook Rocha’s hand.
Just days before the Miss Universe finals, composer Omar Harfouch also dropped out as a judge, alleging that the organization had pre-selected the top 30 contestants through a “secret vote” that did not involve the official judges.
“I felt honored to be invited as an official judge, and I approached it with full integrity and artistic dedication,” he told Business Insider. “But that changed when I discovered the existence of a parallel selection committee acting independently from the official jury. That moment shifted everything — from trust to credibility.”
In an Instagram statement shared on November 18, the Miss Universe Organization said Harfouch was confused by its use of a separate selection committee for the pageant’s “Beyond the Crown Program,” which celebrates the contestants’ charities.
“The Miss Universe Organization clarifies that this eight-person committee operates entirely independently from the official Miss Universe judging panel,” the statement said. “This committee does not evaluate the performance of the delegates during the 74th Miss Universe competition, nor do its decisions grant any additional points toward the final results.”
The Miss Universe Organization did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Hours after Harfouch resigned, Claude Makélélé — a former professional French soccer player — said he could no longer serve as a judge for the Miss Universe finals “due to unforeseen personal reasons.”
It remains to be seen if the chaos surrounding the Miss Universe competition will settle, but it now has a new queen to take the lead.
Leave a comment