Fátima Bosch’s crowning as Miss Universe 2025 on November 16, 2025, in Mexico City will go down as one of the wildest, most dramatic victories in the pageant’s 73-year history. What should have been a glamorous night almost turned into a full-blown scandal-fest, and the 24-year-old from Tabasco walked through fire (literal and figurative) to get that Mikimoto pearl crown.
The chaos started ten days before the finale. During the official sashing ceremony in Bangkok (the original host city before the event was moved to Mexico), Thai media mogul Nawat Itsaragrisil, who co-owns Miss Grand International and still has stakes in Miss Universe licensing, allegedly singled out Fátima in front of sixty other delegates. Thai press reported that he scolded her for not posting enough promotional content about Thailand, then called her a “dumbhead” to her face when she pushed back. Fátima didn’t cry or shrink; she grabbed her sash, said “I’m not accepting this disrespect,” and walked out. Miss Denmark Victoria Kjær Theilvig (who became 1st runner-up), Miss Norway, Miss Sweden, and about a dozen others immediately followed her. Phones were out; the clip exploded on TikTok and X within minutes. #WalkoutWithFatima trended worldwide for 48 hours straight. Fans hailed it as the moment pageantry grew a spine.
The backlash was so brutal that the Miss Universe Organization had to move the entire show from Bangkok to Mexico City on literally ten days’ notice (officially they cited “logistical issues,” but everyone knows it was damage control). Anne Jakrajutatip, the previous owner, had already sold the organization earlier in 2025 to a Mexican investment group led by Raúl Rocha Cantú, so the new owners basically brought the pageant “home.”
Then came the injury. Four nights before the final, Fátima stepped on a shard of broken glass in her hotel suite in Mexico City (left by a previous guest, according to her team). The cut was deep; she needed stitches and could barely walk. She posted tear-streaked Instagram stories from the ER saying “duele muchísimo” but added, “I didn’t come this far to give up.” She practiced the evening gown walk on crutches behind the scenes and competed with her foot heavily bandaged, hidden under the train of her gown. The audience only found out when she told the story during the final question.
The final night itself was electric. When host Mario López called out “¡México!” the arena erupted so loudly the broadcast audio peaked. Fátima burst into tears, limped slightly to center stage, and gave the most raw, emotional speech in recent memory, thanking her mom (from a famous Tabasco beauty-queen family) and promising to use the crown to fight for mental health and flood victims in her home state.
But the drama wasn’t over. Less than 24 hours later, Lebanese composer and businessman Omar Harfouch posted a long video claiming the fix was in, that Raúl Rocha had personally pressured judges because “a Mexican winner was good for business now that Mexico owns the brand.” He even said he had text messages. The organization released voting tallies certified by Ernst & Young, showed the international judge panel (including Catriona Gray, Olivia Culpo, and a Thai judge, ironically), and basically told him to kick rocks. Most fans dismissed Harfouch as bitter because his partner, Miss Lebanon, had been eliminated early.
At the end of the storm stood Fátima: poised, soft-spoken, but clearly unbreakable. A fashion design graduate from Universidad Iberoamericana and Milan, daughter of a Pemex engineer and a beauty-queen mom, ex-girlfriend of Chivas soccer star Kevin Álvarez; she was already tabloid famous in Mexico. Now she’s global.
Her win is being called a turning point. The first Miss Universe under Mexican ownership is Mexican. The first winner in years who openly called out bullying from the inside. The girl who bled (literally) for the crown and still smiled through every second.
