Miss Mexico Rematch: She Became Miss Universe After Pageant Director Told Her She Was 'Idiot'
Miss Mexico, Fatima Bosch, won the Miss Universe pageant. Photo: Sakchai Lalit / AP / Profimedia
A true revenge for Miss Mexico: Fatima Bosch was crowned Miss Universe 2025 on Friday in Thailand, after being the target of such harsh criticism from a pageant director that even the president of Mexico reacted with indignation, reports AFP.
More than 120 candidates from all over the world came together to try to win the title of Miss Universe, considered one of the most important international beauty pageants.
The winner was 25-year-old Mexican model Fatima Bosch, and the other finalists were from Thailand, Venezuela, the Philippines and Ivory Coast.
Her victory came after Miss Universe presenter Nawat Itsaragrisil called Fatima Bosch an “idiot” during a filmed training session in early November, after criticizing her in particular for not posting a promotional video on her social media about Thailand, the host country for the 2025 edition of the pageant.
Miss Mexico angrily left the hall, followed by several of her colleagues.
“What your director did is disrespectful: he called me an idiot,” Fatima Bosch told the journalists present. “The world needs to witness this because we are independent women and this space allows us to make our voices heard,” she added.
The incident sparked reactions in Mexico, both in the press and on social media. Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said she wanted to “pay tribute” to the young woman, whose reaction was “an example of how we women must express ourselves” in the face of aggression. The presenter and director of the contest, Nawat Itsaragrisil, later apologized.
In Villahermosa, the capital of the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco, where Fatima Bosch is from, thousands of people gathered in a stadium to watch the live broadcast of the ceremony. “Mexico! Mexico!” chanted the crowd, bursting into cheers at the coronation as fireworks lit up the sky, according to Mexican media.
The next edition of the contest will take place in 2026 in Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island that is a territory affiliated to the United States, it was announced during the ceremony.
