Miss South Africa crowned Miss Universe, SA split

demi leigh nel peters miss universe miss south africa 2017

Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters was crowned Miss Universe Sunday night, beating out runners-up from Colombia and Jamaica.

The 22-year-old from the Western Cape is only the second South African to win the title, following Margaret Gardiner’s win in 1978.

Despite the victory, Nel-Peters wasn’t too popular with South Africans on Twitter — namely for the July debacle in which photos emerged of her wearing gloves when posing with black children but not white.

The incident caused a stir — and even inspired a social challenge — despite Nel-Peters insisting she was wearing the gloves because she was working with food.

Other South Africans were also in support of Miss Jamaica, the second runner-up, for the embrace of her natural hair.

But others weren’t accepting this notion, and respected Miss South Africa for “raising the [flag] high”.

“I may be the new Miss Universe but I will always be your Miss South Africa – we did it!” Nel-Peters wrote to Twitter.

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