Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters Crowned Miss Universe 2017

Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters Crowned Miss Universe 2017

Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters has been crowned Miss Universe 2017.

According to USA Today, the South African beauty beat first runner-up Miss Colombia, Laura González, and second runner-up Miss Jamaica, Davina Bennett for the crown at the grand finale held on Sunday night in Las Vegas.

22-year-old Nel-Peters had won the hearts of the judge after she shared her experiences in a pre-taped interview, in which she talked about how her experience being held at gunpoint made her passionate about training women in self-defense. The beauty queen said she wants to bring that passion, along with a self-defense program she helped develop, to the Miss Universe platform.

During the Q&A session at the grand finale, Nel-Peters was asked about the most important issue women face in the workplace, and she responded that:

“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. I think we should have equal work for equal pay for women all over the world.”

After she was declared the winner, the outgoing Miss Universe Iris Mittenaere crowned Nel-Peters with the $250,000 pearl-encrusted Mikimoto tiara.

Other beauty queens who impressed at the event are the top 13 finalists which include, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Spain, Ireland, Croatia, Great Britain, USA, Brazil, Canada, Philippines, Venezuela and China.

Congratulations to South Africa!