Olivia Culpo became the first American woman to take home the Miss Universe crown in more than a decade when she won the televised contest on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old Boston University sophomore beat out 88 other beauty queens for the top title in the competition, which was held at the Planet Hollywood casino in Las Vegas.
Culpo started her pageant career by winning the Miss Rhode Island crown in a $20 rented dress, before going on to win the Miss USA competition in Las Vegas in June.
Her Miss Universe coronation ends a long losing streak for the United States in a pageant co-owned by Donald Trump and NBC. The last American woman to win the title was Brook Lee back in 1997.
After moving through the preliminary rounds of Wednesday’s competition, Culpo won over the panel of 10 judges – which included singer Cee Lo Green, Food Network “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto and Pablo Sandoval of the 2012 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.
During the interview portion of the telecast, she was asked whether she had done anything she regretted:
“I’d like to start off by saying that every experience no matter what it is, good or bad, you’ll learn from it. That’s just life,” Culpo said. “But something I’ve done I’ve regretted is probably picking on my siblings growing up, because you appreciate them so much more as you grow older.”
Shortly after, she was crowned the winner. Miss Philippines, Janine Tugonon, came in second, while Miss Venezuela, Irene Sofia Esser Quintero, placed third.
Check out photos below:
