What became of R'Bonney Gabriel, the last and controversial American winner of Miss Universe?

This Saturday we will know the new beauty queen of Miss Universe, as the 73rd edition of the contest will be held on November 16 in Mexico.

It is worth remembering that the last America queen is R'Bonney Gabriel, who was crown in 2022.

However, Gabriel was no free of controversy during her reign, starting with the day of the coronation.

Controversy after the coronation

R'Bonney Gabriel is a model and fashion designer with a Filipino father and American mother who was crowned queen of the pageant when she was 28 years old.

She, along with the representative of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, were the three finalists who competed to become the winner of the beauty pageant.

The Texas native's victory generated controversy, since there was talk of possible favoritism since the contest was held in New Orleans, USA, but she responded to the criticism.

She said that she had worked very hard to win the title and that she ignored haters and detractors as per People magazine.

"Honestly, I'm not someone who takes myself too seriously. I love watching memes. They make me laugh. I was laughing at myself when I got on stage," she expressed at the time.

She gave up her Miss USA title

After becoming Miss Universe and learning of her busy schedule, the young woman gave up her title as Miss USA and Morgan Romano, a 25-year-old who represented Miss North Carolina in the U.S. national pageant, was chosen in her place.

R'Bonney's decisions that upset Miss Universe directors

Semana recalls that the model made some decisions that didn't go down well among the directors of Miss Universe. One of those decisions includes informing them that she wanted to continue her professional career as a fashion designer while she fulfilled her commitments as queen.

She even made her desire clear in several interviews, even hinting that she wanted to move her sewing workshop to New York to continue doing what she loves.

That attitude set off alarm bells in the organization, since those who are elected queens must strictly comply with what is stipulated in the legal document, otherwise they could lose their title.

Miss Universe is only nice on social media?

Another talking point that arose around the current beauty queen were several statements that indicated that while she appears to be nice on social media, she is the opposite in real life.

That was one of the reasons why she had trouble gaining popularity and connecting with people, something that other queens quickly and easily.

Not everything went smoothly. We will see what's in store for the next queen of the contest.