Miss South Africa Crowned as Miss Universe 2017
Miss South Africa, Demi-Leigh, Nel-Peters, is Miss Universe 2017.
On Sunday, the 22-year-old was crowned Miss Universe at the AXIS Theater at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Throughout the competition, Nel-Peters had advocated for HIV/AIDS awareness and self-defense causes.
"HIV/AIDS is a very big problem in my country South Africa, so I hope to stand as an advocate for that," the newly-crowned beauty queen said in an interview.
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With her victory, she will be getting a year-long salary as Miss Universe 2017 along with a luxury apartment in New York and other big prizes.
Nel-Peters won the title against 91 other hopeful contestants from all over the world. With a total of 92 contestants, 2017's competition had the most number of participants ever in the pageant's decades-long history with the recent addition of Laos, Cambodia and Nepal.
Throughout the competition, the business administration graduate raised a number of important issues that women have been facing. With her recent experience of getting robbed at gunpoint just after winning Miss South Africa, Nel-Peters had helped develop a self-defense program in order to help other women become more ready if they would be unfortunate to come under such a predicament.
Furthermore, when asked which is the greatest issue women are currently facing in the workplace, Nel-Peters responded with "lack of equal pay."
"In some places, women get paid 75 percent of what men earn for doing the same job, working the same hours, and I do not believe that is right. I think we should have equal work for equal pay for women all over the world," she said.
Miss Colombia, Laura Gonzalez, and Miss Jamaica, Davina Bennett, placed as runner-ups for this year. Steve Harvey also made a comeback in hosting the prestigious pageant despite his highly-publicized mishap back during the 2015 competition where he announced the wrong winner.
Pop star Fergie also performed her latest single, "A Little Work," while the finalists walked with their evening gowns.
