Mexico’s Fatima Bosch won the Miss Universe title in Thailand on Friday after an edition marked by several controversies, including one involving the winner herself, now the subject of accusations of alleged fraud in her election.
Bosch, 25, said she was thrilled with her win and looked forward to working during her year-long reign to promote gender equality in her country and inspire young people in other parts of the world.
“I know that this crown represents not only the title of a beautiful woman, but also to be able to do something with it,” she said.
The Mexican began the contest with an episode that went viral on networks in early November, when she demanded respect and refused to keep quiet during a discussion with the head of the organizing committee of the pageant in Thailand, Nawat Itsaragrinsil, in an incident that was broadcast live and that triggered numerous expressions of solidarity with the young woman.
But all that popular support did not make her a favorite to win the competition, which according to experts in these contests was led by delegates from countries such as Thailand, Ivory Coast or the Philippines, so the triumph today of the Mexican took by surprise most of the audience in Bangkok, who booed in the enclosure.
Bosch arrived in Thailand this month with no predictions of becoming the winner, but her name became the most famous of the edition by starring in that confrontation with Nawat, who apologized several times, one of them moved to tears at a press conference, and who today posed smiling next to the new queen.
That incident sparked an unprecedented battle within the pageant, as the owner and president of the Miss Universe Organization (MUO), the Mexican Raul Rocha, came out in defense of the candidate and threatened to take legal action against Nawat.
After two weeks of tensions, Rocha and Nawat met in Bangkok on Monday and claimed to have ironed out their differences, while renewing their commitment to continue working together, without either party explaining the status of the announced legal actions. EFE tried unsuccessfully to obtain answers from both businessmen.
The credibility of the result that was announced today had already been questioned on Tuesday, when the French-Lebanese pianist Omar Harfouch reported his resignation as judge of the contest, alleging lack of transparency and an alleged “secret ballot” in which the 30 qualifiers were chosen without evaluation by the eight-person jury.
Miss Universe controversy and the triumph of Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch
The artist also peeked his intention to sue the MUO for alleged crimes such as abuse of power, corruption, deceit, breach of contract and conflict of interest and today he again used Instagram to call Bosch “a Miss Universe of lies”.
Harfouch claims that, in an interview recorded 24 hours before the coronation, he declared that Mexico would be the winner because Rocha has “business dealings” with the beauty queen’s father, Bernarno Bosch, a businessman with a long career in the state-owned oil company Pemex, without providing evidence.
In addition to Harfouch, former French footballer and coach Claude Makélélé -another member of the original jury- said on his Instagram account that he would not attend Miss Universe 2025, without giving further explanations. Likewise, Brazilian sculptor Romero Britto was appointed as a member of the judging panel and also did not attend the gala, with no known reasons for his absence.
The MUO had already warned of legal action against the pianist but has not ruled on the allegations of fraud in the election of the Mexican.
At Fatima Bosch’s first press conference as Miss Universe, the organizers ruled out questions related to these controversies, after having asked journalists for the questions in writing beforehand.
The page Real Pageanthology, specialized in beauty pageants, said on Instagram that, with the announced result, “nothing will be the same”, since the MUO “chooses” the winner “without caring about anything else”, a comment that stirred the debate on social networks, where a flood of Internet users rejected the triumph of the Mexican.
In this regard, Canadian Natalie Glebova, Miss Universe 2005, who joined the panel of judges at the last minute in view of this week’s resignations, recalled that in previous years the results were backed by an accounting firm, an aspect she believes should be recovered and which she set as a condition for returning to the jury, reported Agencia EFE.
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