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Filipino Catriona Gray Wins Miss Universe 2018

Filipino Catriona Gray Wins Miss Universe 2018

Miss Philippines beat 93 other countries to take the crown

Rachael Grealish

Rachael Grealish

It's that time of year again when contestants from all over the globe battle it out for the crown of Miss Universe - this year it was Catriona Gray from the Philippines who beat out the other 93 countries to the top spot.

Filipino Catriona Gray Wins Miss Universe 2018.
PA

The 24-year-old Filipino-Australian model is now the fourth Filipino as she trounced Miss South Africa and Miss Venezuela in the final three.

Miss Philippines may have took home the title, but history was made in this year's competition, which was held in Bangkok, as Miss Spain, Angela Ponce, was the first transgender contestant in the competition's history.

"I'm competing because it's what I've wanted to do since I was a little girl," Ponce told Time ahead of the competition. "I'm showing that trans women can be whatever they want to be: a teacher, a mother, a doctor, a politician and even Miss Universe."

Filipino Catriona Gray Wins Miss Universe 2018.
PA

Miss Philippines made history of her own - obviously this isn't the model's first time in the pageant world, back in 2016 she was named Miss World Philippines, making her the first woman in history to have been awarded both World and Universe national titles.

Then there was also an air of controversy laced throughout the competition as two contestants failed to make it into the top ten after 'xenophobic' and 'condescending' comments she made on her Instagram account about another contestant.

Miss USA and Miss Australia were filmed talking about Miss Vietnam's, H'Hen Niê, lack of fluent English speaking.

In the video Miss USA was filmed saying Miss Vietnam is 'so cute and she pretends to know so much English and then you ask her a question after having a whole conversation with her and she (nods and smiles)'.

Also, in the video Miss USA, Sarah Summers, did say she had sympathy for another non-English speaking contestant, Miss Cambodia, who she said, 'doesn't speak any English and not a single other person speaks her language'.

She added: "Can you imagine? Francesca (Miss Australia) said that would be so isolating and I said yes and just confusing all the time. Poor Cambodia."

Filipino Catriona Gray Wins Miss Universe 2018.
Instagram

The comments were not taken well by members of the public and in a follow-up Instagram post Summers apologised saying the competition is 'an opportunity for women from around the world to learn about each other's cultures, life experiences, and views'.

She continued: "In a moment where I intended to admire the courage of a few of my sisters, I said something that I now realise can be perceived as not respectful, and I apologise."

Featured Image Credit: PA/Instagram

Topics: World News, US News