Crowned Miss Universe R’bonney Gabriel speaks during The 71st Miss Universe Competition at New Orleans Morial Convention Center on January 14, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images/AFP
Miss Universe R’Bonney: Did organisers rig her Miss USA win too?
Pageant politics or elaborate plan? Here’s why R’Bonney Gabriel’s Miss Universe win is clouded in controversy…
Crowned Miss Universe R’bonney Gabriel speaks during The 71st Miss Universe Competition at New Orleans Morial Convention Center on January 14, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images/AFP
Hot on the heels of R’Bonney Gabriel winning the Miss Universe pageant, social media users are revisiting claims that she was “rigged” to win both the international pageant and the Miss USA title as well.
In a glittering ceremony in New Orleans, R’bonney has crowned the 71st Miss Universe winner. Miss Venezuela Amanda Dudamel was crowned the runner-up, and Miss Dominican Republic Andreina Martinez second runner-up.
ALSO READ: ‘Rigged’: Who tweeps think SHOULD have won Miss Universe
USA CONTESTANT’S CONCERNS RESURFACE
Following R’Bonney Gabriel’s Miss Universe win, tweeps dug up receipts of an ex-Miss USA contest – Miss Montana – who claimed that organisers had favoured the former to win the title.
R’Bonney – of Filipino descent but who hails from Houston, Texas – was crowned Miss USA last year. Interestingly, Miss Universe owners – JKN Global Group – also own the rights to the Miss USA pageant too.
Miss Montana told MailOnline that R’Bonney was a “predetermined” winner.
She said: “’I do feel like we were all used as puppets to just put on this show of Miss USA, just to put on the show of a pageant.
“I feel like, and a lot of other contestants feel like, they had already predetermined the winner. We were just there as puppets to put on this show for them to make it seem like there was a pageant…That’s how we feel. That’s our own opinion.”
When asked why she believed R’Bonney Gabriel was “favoured” to win, she responded: “’The only thing I know was that there was clear and convincing favoritism toward her in the competition and leading up to the competition. She received more resources than we did. That is the root of the issue”.
WAS MISS UNIVERSE RIGGED?
Meanwhile, Miss Universe pageant users debated whether the entire international pageant was rigged too.
According to some, R’Bonney’s “lack of reaction” was telling of this…
Others claim that R’Bonney hinted at a win in a preliminary Instagram post…
Some tweeps claimed that R’bonney’s response was “weaker” than her opponents in the Top 3 question and answer round. R’bonney was also the only contestant who went over the allocated time in her answer.
Then tweeps revisited the theory that the pageant’s new owners – JKN Global Group, also owners of the Miss USA pageant – had a hand in choosing the winner.
Others claim it was a “coincidence” that the host country won the competition…
