Miss Universe Portugal 2025, Camila Vitorino: mothers and women in relationships told they can't win

It has been such a tumultuous year for Miss Universe, and the number of women who are speaking out now against the organisation is both heartbreaking and alarming.

Camila Vitorino of Portugal is the latest beauty queen to speak out against the Miss Universe organisation. She released a statement detailing how many women's dreams were prematurely ended after they were allegedly informed, indirectly, that mothers or women in relationships "do not stand a chance of winning."

On Tuesday, November 25, Vitorino took to Instagram and shared that she “no longer feels represented by the principles the Miss Universe organisation has chosen to uphold.”

She added, “I want to highlight a specific moment when I knew my journey there had come to an end. 

“During a conversation between the organisation and the contestants, it was said that the reigning queen did not have a boyfriend because there was no time - that her commitment was to the community, and her 'marriage' was to the project.

“My heart raced. I froze. I looked around, hoping I had misunderstood. Several contestants, married or in relationships like me, were visibly hurt.”

The core question for everyone is this: Is the beauty pageant genuinely committed to "inclusivity" and "women's empowerment," or is this merely a misleading concept?

The number of women speaking out, sharing their stories while they were in Thailand, and their experiences is truly heartbreaking.

Seeing how the Miss Universe pageant has turned out is also shocking because we have scandals every single day.

From being the world’s most prestigious pageant to now being a scandalous pageant. How shocking!

In addition, it is shocking how every woman is detailing her unique experience, and not even one woman, so far, has positive things to say about their experiences besides being grateful to be a part of the platform and meeting the other contestants.

Joining the conversation of married women and those with children was Miss Universe Nigeria 2024, Chidimma Adetshina.

She commented under a post that shared Vitorino’s statement and said, “I was told that if they knew I was a mom, I wouldn’t have placed that high or gotten the title Africa and Oceania. This is the year of inclusivity??? And this is what I was told.”

Although this is sad, it is inspiring to see that these iconic women are not being silenced and they are revealing the truth about what really happens behind the scenes that we, as fans, do not get to see.

This will help another young woman out there who dreams of gracing the Miss Universe stage to learn to be bold and speak up whenever such events transpire.