Esther Wahome first runners-up in Mrs. Universe Beautiful Pageant
They called her pantera, Spanish for a feminine panther, a black leopard. And Esther Wahome proudly stood to be counted among the world’s most beautiful women. She stood out for she was the only black African competing for the Mrs Universe crown at the recent beauty pageant in Russia.
Before she left for the annual competition, Wahome promised to bring home the crown.
But when she saw the other beautiful women eyeing the same crown in Petersburg City, Russia, she thought her chances were slim.
She was up against “great people in the runway and beauty industry”.
But when all ended, she got the crown of the first runners-up. “I still can’t believe it, I have the crown and the sash written Mrs Universe 2012, No 2,” said Wahome on her return.
The Mrs Universe Ltd, whose winners are described as the ‘most honourable woman on earth’, was founded in 2007 in Bulgaria by Megi Savova.
The annual competition brings married women from different countries together for seven to ten days during which they are involved in different activities and are united in the motto, ‘Against Violence’.
Inner beauty
But unlike the other beauty pageants, Mrs Universe is not only inclined into physical beauty, but also the inner beauty. Entrants must be married women aged 25 to 45.
The nominees must have excelled in their career and used it to empower their communities. Wahome represented Kenya in the pageant, which was held from August 4, with the crowning night on August 11.
“I almost lost hope,” she told The Standard. “The competition was really tough. Many seemed to have won in great pageants previously, while others are people you will easily see on billboards across the globe.”
Confronted with this reality, the gospel singer never thought she had a chance of making it to the top 20. But then she started thinking she might just make it when all the sponsoring corporates picked her for a photo shoot to promote their brand in the days before the big night. There is the feeling in the beauty world that black models are discriminated against.
“For me it was a different experience. My skin colour seemed to work to my advantage. Everybody said I looked like a pantera.” She wasn’t sure what kind of animal that was until they reassured her it was a “beautiful wild cat”.
“They kept asking if I was born with the eyes of a pantera or I had undergone plastic surgery.”
Before going to Russia, Wahome held a thanksgiving dinner at the Hilton, where she strutted on the catwalk and promised to use the Mrs Universe platform to let people know that marriages work.
She introduced her husband of 16 years, before thanking him for his support and publicly declaring, “I love you.”
The audience broke into a hearty applause.
Source:The Standard
