Every American woman who has won the Miss Universe pageant throughout its 73-year history

• The 2024 Miss Universe pageant will take place on Saturday in Mexico.

• Nine Miss USAs have won Miss Universe in its 73-year history.

• R’Bonney Gabriel from Texas was crowned Miss Universe 2022.

Beauty queens worldwide are getting ready for the biggest night in pageants.

On Saturday, over 100 hopeful contestants will compete in the 73rd annual Miss Universe competition in Mexico, vying for the highest pageant honor.

This year, Alma Cooper from Michigan will represent the United States in the pageant. In August, she took home the top crown at Miss USA following a year of turmoil for the pageant.

Miss USA 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel was the last American to win the Miss Universe pageant. It had been a decade since a contestant from the US won the competition.

In honor of the upcoming competition, take a look back at the nine Miss USAs who have won Miss Universe in the pageant’s history.

1954: Miriam Stevenson

Stevenson was crowned Miss Universe in 1954, making her the first American to win the pageant. She won after initially tying with Miss Brazil Martha Rocha, with Stevenson ultimately taking the crown because the judges decided she had a better physique than Rocha, according to Telemundo.

Stevenson was a student at Lander College when she started competing in pageants, first representing South Carolina in the Miss USA pageant in 1954, according to the college, which is now called Lander University.

After her reign ended, Stevenson finished her studies at Lander, and she became a TV host, Telemundo also reported. She met her husband, Donald Upton, through work, and they share two children.

Stevenson is still alive today.

1956: Carol Morris

Morris won Miss USA while representing Iowa, and she then went on to become Miss Universe.

The then-20-year-old was studying elementary education at Drake University when she found pageant success. After her win, she left her college career behind to act, according to the Des Moines Register.

Her last IMDb credit is for an “ITV Film of the Week” episode, and the Register reported that she stepped back from acting after she got married and had her four children.

Morris is still the only representative from Iowa to win both Miss USA and Miss Universe.

1960: Linda Bement

Bement, who died in 2018, won the 1960 Miss USA pageant while representing Utah before becoming Miss Universe the same year.

She was the first Miss Universe winner to be crowned during a live television broadcast, helping to bring the pageant to a larger audience around the world.

Bement coached other pageant contestants following her win, according to her obituary.

She also had two children with her ex-husband Manuel Ycaza, a hall-of-fame jockey, and at the time of her death, she had five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

1967: Sylvia Hitchcock

Hitchcock became Miss Universe in 1967 after winning the Miss Alabama and Miss USA pageants while she was a student at the University of Alabama. Though she represented Alabama during her pageant career, Hitchcock actually grew up in Miami.

According to AL.com, Hitchcock modeled and appeared in a few film productions after winning Miss Universe, and she didn’t finish her studies at the University of Alabama. She also served as a judge for the 1972 Miss Universe pageant following her reign.

Hitchcock married William Carson in 1970, and they had three children and seven grandchildren. She died in 2015, according to her obituary.

1980: Shawn Weatherly

Shawn Weatherly became the second Miss USA from South Carolina to take home the Miss Universe crown after she won in 1980.

Weatherly launched a career in Hollywood following her reign. She starred as Cadet Karen Adams in “Police Academy 3: Back in Training” in 1986 before landing the role of Jill Riley in the first season of “Baywatch” in 1989, according to her IMDb page.

She made cameos in several successful shows throughout the ’90s, including “Thirtysomething,” “Murder, She Wrote,” and “Chicago Hope.” Weatherly has not appeared in a film or TV series since the 2014 movie “Love in the Time of Monsters.”

1995: Chelsi Smith

Chelsi Smith became the first Miss Texas to take home the Miss Universe crown when she won in 1995. She was the third African American woman to win Miss USA, as well as the first African American woman to win Miss Texas.

Smith moved to Los Angeles after her reign to pursue a career in Hollywood, according to People. In addition to modeling and acting, she signed a record deal and her first single, “Dom Da Da,” appeared on the soundtrack for the 2002 film “The Sweetest Thing.” She also appeared in the 2003 film “Playas Ball,” according to IMDb.

Smith died of liver cancer in September 2018. She was 45 years old.

1997: Brook Lee

Brook Lee, who took the crown in 1997, is the first and only native Hawaiian to win Miss Universe. At the age of 26, Lee was the oldest Miss Universe winner at the time.

Lee appeared on several TV shows after winning the crown, including “The Nanny” and “Boy Meets World,” according to her IMDb page.

The pageant queen then turned her attention to hosting for shows including “Hawaii Sports Adventure” on ESPN, “Top Ten Beaches of America” and “Cruises We Love” on the Travel Channel, and “Casting Session” for Fox Movie Channel, according to her official website.

Lee also created her own show, “Modern Wahine Hawaii,” and co-hosted the podcast “It’s A Hawaii Thing.”

2012: Olivia Culpo

Olivia Culpo entered her first pageant in 2012 when she competed in Miss Rhode Island USA. After taking home the crown, she won Miss USA and Miss Universe that same year.

Following her reign, Culpo — like many of her predecessors — began acting in Hollywood. She appeared in “The Other Woman” with Cameron Diaz in 2014, as well as the 2018 film “I Feel Pretty” with Amy Schumer, according to her IMDb page.

With 5.5 million Instagram followers, Culpo has since launched a successful career as an influencer. In 2022, she starred in the TLC reality series “The Culpo Sisters” with her family.

Culpo and Christian McCaffrey, who plays for the San Francisco 49ers, tied the knot in June.

2022: R’Bonney Gabriel

R’Bonney Gabriel was the second Miss Texas to win Miss Universe after she took home the crown in January.

Gabriel only started competing in pageants in 2021 after a hairstylist convinced her, she told Business Insider after winning Miss USA in October 2022.

The fashion designer made history as the first Filipino American to win the pageant. But the day after she was crowned, more than a dozen Miss USA 2022 contestants said the competition had been rigged in her favor. They pointed to multiple conflicts of interest between Gabriel and Miss USA’s national sponsors, as well as then-Miss USA president Crystle Stewart. The Miss Universe Organization launched an investigation and suspended Stewart.

Gabriel denied the rigging allegations, and a Miss Universe spokesperson told BI in January 2023 that the investigation found the Miss USA judges’ scores were accurately recorded and no winner was pre-selected. The organization announced in August 2023 that Stewart was no longer the Miss USA president.

Gabriel went on to win the Miss Universe 2022 title, telling BI it was the “sweetest victory” after the Miss USA scandal.

“No matter if people try to knock you down or there are misconceptions about you, you can’t let that get to you,” she said. “Just keep going, and you’ll get what you deserve.”

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