Meet the New Miss Universe, Fatima Bosch Fernández: 3 Controversial Things That Impacted Her Pageant Win

The long-running global beauty pageant, Miss Universe, has crowned its 74th winner over in Thaliand: the Miss Mexico representative, Fatima Bosch Fernández.

While she's no doubt a worthy champion, sadly some aspects of her victory have been overshadowed by the pageant's previous scandals—most notably an incident that saw Bosch Fernández branded a “dummy” by Nawat Itsaragrisil, the event's director, during a live-streamed heated discussion.

Here's everything we know about Fatima Bosch Fernández and the 3 reasons her win has caused quite the stir.

Fátima Bosch Fernández, 25, is the newly crowned Miss Universe 2025—and she had quite the journey to get there. Born in Teapa, a small town in the Mexican state of Tabasco, she grew up a million miles away from areas that typically produce international contenders. Her pageant journey started at home, winning Flor Tabasco in 2018, before going on to make history as the first woman from her state to win Miss Universe Mexico.

Before the global spotlight found her, she was a fashion and apparel design graduate from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, with a particular interest in sustainability.

Outside of work, Bosch Fernández has volunteered with children's charities, supported mental health causes, and spoken openly about wanting to be a voice for women who don’t always feel able to raise their own.

“We’re in the 21st century. I'm not a doll to be made up, styled, and have my clothes changed,” Bosch Fernández stated in response to the verbal dressing-down she received from Itsaragrisil.

1) Fátima Bosch Fernández was insulted by the event's director

Firstly, the aforementioned run-in with Nawat Itsaragrisil, the event's director, which saw Bosch Fernández stand up for herself when Itsaragrisil attempted to belittle her during a sash ceremony on November 4, 2025.

When the director accused Bosch Fernández of failing to take part in a promotional shoot, he reportedly called her a "dummy" in a live-streamed exchange.

“I still keep talking to everybody, why you still stand up to talk to me,” Itsaragrisil queried Bosch Fernández during the uncomfortable exchange.

In response, the now-Miss Universe winner said, “Because I have a voice. You are not respecting me as a woman” before walking out of the room, with other contestants following in solidarity, including the outgoing Miss Universe.

Regarding the confrontation, Miss Universe Organization's president Raúl Rocha Cantú stated, “I would like to make it clear my great indignation toward Nawat for the public aggression he committed against Fátima Bosch, whom he humiliated, insulted, and he showed a lack of respect, in addition to the serious abuse of having called security to intimidate a defenseless woman, trying to silence and exclude her.”

2) Nobody from her region in Mexico has won Miss Mexico before

Before evening touching down in Thailand, Bosch Fernández had made a name for herself back home as the first woman from her state to claim the title of Miss Mexico.

3) Three judges quit the Miss Universe pageant—and one claimed it was rigged

Just days before the crowning event itself, one judge, Omar Harfouch, resigned amid alleging that an unwritten “impromptu jury” had already selected the top 30 delegates, sidelining the official judging panel.

In an Instagram post, he said, “I will also not be playing the music I composed for the event… I could not stand before the public and television cameras, pretending to legitimize a vote I never took part in.”

Shortly after, a second judge, Claude Makélélé, also resigned, this time citing “unforeseen personal reasons,” and he was followed by the president of the Miss Universe selection committee, Princess Camilla di Borbone delle Due Sicilie.

These departures threw shade over the legitimacy of the Miss Universe competition, which a spokesperson responded to with, “His comments incorrectly suggested that an unauthorized or impromptu jury had been formed and that the official judges had been excluded from the selection of finalists.

“The Miss Universe Organization firmly clarifies that no impromptu jury has been created, that no external group has been authorized to evaluate delegates or select finalists, and that all competition evaluations continue to follow the established, transparent, and supervised MUO protocol.”