South Africa wins Miss Universe 2017 crown
Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters is crowned Miss Universe 2017 at The AXIS in Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photo from Fox News
Miss South Africa made it into the top 16 with being one of the wild cards, including Miss Philippines Rachel Peters.
Out of 92 contestants, only 16 advanced to the finals with four from the America, four from Europe, four from Africa & Asia-Pacific, and four wild cards from anywhere in the world.
After the swimsuit round, the six contestants were eliminated thus narrowing them down to 10 with Venezuela, USA, Philippines, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, Thailand, and Jamaica.
Eight-time Grammy Award winner Fergie performed "A Little Work" while the contestants modeled their evening gowns.
The top 10 finalists were then narrowed down to five namely--South Africa, Venezuela, Thailand, Jamaica, and Colombia which will determine who will proceed into the final three.
American comedian host Steve Harvey asked Miss South Africa the question, "Women make up 49 percent of the global workforce. What do you believe is the most important issue facing women in the workplace today, and why?"
"In some cases, women get paid 75 percent of what men earn for doing the same job, working the same hours and I do not believe that that is right. I think we should have equal work for equal pay for women all over the world," replied Nel-Peters.
The top three finalists consisted of Jamaica, Colombia, and South Africa.
Harvey asked the same question to the top three in the question and answer portion: "What quality in yourself are you most proud of, and how will you apply that quality to your time as miss universe?"
"As miss universe you have to be confident in who you are as an individual. A miss universe is a woman that has overcome many fears and by that she is able to help other women overcome their fears. She is a woman that nothing is ever too much is asked for and that's exactly who I am," Miss South Africa answered.
Nel-Peters was crowned by Iris Mittenaere of France who won Miss Universe last January 2016 in the Philippines.
Colombia's Laura González won first runner-up while Jamaica's Davina Bennett won second runner-up.
The 22-year-old Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters is the second South African to win the Miss Universe crown, almost 40 years after Miss Universe 1978 Margaret Gardiner won.
This year's miss universe had the most countries ever represented with three countries who made their debut in the pageant namely Cambodia, Laos, and Nepal and Iraq with its comeback after 45 years of absence.
