— Saint John
By Alex P. Vidal
IT was probably racially motivated when detractors of R’Bonney Gabriel tried to tarnish her reign as the first Filipino-American Miss USA back in October 2022.
Now, she’s the toast of the pageant world after winning the Miss Universe 2022 crown.
“It all happened so fast. When they called my name, I didn't realize I won. It was probably about five seconds and I'm not reacting. Then I felt that sash come over me. It was just such a rush of feelings and I tell people you kind of black out because there's so much going on. It was just pure, utter shock really," Gabriel said.
"I took that win home for my family, for my community, for Houston, for Texas, and for the Asian American community.”
Her mom is from Beaumont and her father, a doctor, is an immigrant from the Philippines.
Preserving and celebrating her culture has always been a priority for the 28-year-old Gabriel. Although she never saw a state titleholder that looked like her, she never let that hinder her confidence.
It can be recalled that as soon as she was crowned as Miss USA 2022 on October 3, 2022, most of her fellow contestants walked off the stage and accused her of cheating without any shred of evidence.
“Bullying” was the only word to describe Gabriel’s predicament from her fellow American contestants.
There was a consensus among pundits who followed the controversy that the first Filipino-American Miss USA from Texas was bullied by beauties from other states who couldn’t accept defeat in the Miss USA competition and made unfounded allegations that the pageant was rigged.
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Now that Gabriel won the Miss Universe 2022 to become the first Filipino-American winner on January 14 in New Orleans, the bullies must have eaten their own words.
Gabriel’s bad experience with the sore losers from other states was reminiscence of Miss Philippine-Universe 2020 Rabiya Mateo’s sad plight when some of her fellow contestants also accused her of cheating, an allegation that was never substantiated.
Like in Mateo’s case, Gabriel’s accusers were also probably motivated by jealousy and bitterness because they were beaten by an underdog, in this case a Fil-Am beauty.
A model and fashion designer who competed as Miss Texas USA, Gabriel is the first Filipino-American to win the prestigious beauty contest.
Gabriel’s win as Miss USA was questioned by jealous contestants after the pageant was held as questions swirled on social media as to why most of the Miss USA contestants walked off the stage after the Fil-Am beauty was crowned.
Gabriel said she would “never enter any pageant or any competition that I know I would win.”
“I have a lot of integrity,” she told E! News.
Gabriel said she was open to talking to her fellow contestants.
“I want to be transparent, and I want everybody to know that there was no unfair advantage and nothing was rigged,” she stressed.
“We are aware of the concerns that have been brought forth by this year’s Miss USA contestants,” the organization told The Post in an emailed statement.
“We commend the women for bringing these issues to our attention and will always be an organization that encourages women to use their voice.”
“We firmly believe everyone has a right to express their thoughts and experiences without retaliation and bullying,” the statement said. “There are existing systems in place to ensure the fairness of our national competitions and as such we have begun an active review into this situation.”
In an Instagram post, Miss Alabama USA Katelyn Vinson hinted that the results were predetermined and she and others “never stood a chance” to win.
“It’s crushing and heartbreaking to have worked so hard towards a goal only to realize you never stood a chance,” Vinson said. “I had heard rumors but held onto hope. I kept working toward my dream because I didn’t want to believe it could be true.”
Miss Montana USA Heather Lee O’Keefe and Miss New York Heather Nunez also spoke out about what they said was favoritism shown towards Gabriel, including connections to a pageant sponsor and judge and spa services provided to her before she was crowned.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)
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