EDIT: Removed previous 5-star review as we were told to do so prior to this year’s pageant to get more contestants.
UPDATE: After considerable thought and emotional reflection, I have made the decision to end any and all affiliations with the Miss Universal Global pageant system. When I first joined this pageant system back in 2023, I believed I was stepping into a space that promoted female empowerment, integrity, and support for young women, men, and children.
Sadly, over the course Show more
EDIT: Removed previous 5-star review as we were told to do so prior to this year’s pageant to get more contestants.
UPDATE: After considerable thought and emotional reflection, I have made the decision to end any and all affiliations with the Miss Universal Global pageant system. When I first joined this pageant system back in 2023, I believed I was stepping into a space that promoted female empowerment, integrity, and support for young women, men, and children.
Sadly, over the course of this year’s pageant, after simply being seen with a former contestant the director no longer favours, I was treated differently across the week. This ongoing friendship was met with clear changes in attitude and behaviour towards me, creating a hostile, dismissive, and emotionally taxing atmosphere- despite my continued professionalism, commitment, and dedication to the pageant over the last three years. This behaviour was also directed not just at me, but towards other contestants and people still friends with this former contestant. This behaviour alone is unacceptable in any organisation, and it created an environment where integrity took a backseat to personal agendas.
Additionally, it’s incredibly disheartening to see a platform that claims to uplift women instead engage in conduct that isolates, pressures, and undermines those simply trying to grow and represent their titles with pride. Since July 2024, I have made over 60 appearances and posts alone with my title, both in my hometown and across Australia. I put a lot of time, energy, effort, and funding towards competing internationally for the first time, returning to recompete, and then returning this year to crown my successor. However, no crown or title is worth sacrificing my mental health, the worthwhile friendships I’ve made over the years, and my morals for. I am also in full support of other contestants who have since stepped down from this system after their own personal experiences, knowing that it would not have been an easy decision to make, and I am so proud of y'all.
Finally, I’ve witnessed patterns of favouritism and whispers of cheating and manipulation, as well as instances of both physical and verbal abuse that were never properly addressed, only brushed aside without explanation, accountability, respect, and transparency, or used selectively against certain individuals, leaving many contestants feeling silenced, disrespected, and second-guessing. This is not the kind of system that I can support or represent, and it is not what I signed up for. Although I have handed down my title this year, I am stepping away, not in defeat but in strength, choosing my wellbeing, self-respect, and dignity above all else. Before even stepping aside, access to my pageant title page was revoked, so my only true opinions are the ones here and on my personal socials. I hope my decision encourages overdue reflection and accountability within the team and inspires others to prioritise their own self-worth.
I wanted to thank the select staff who made the pageant happen as best they could, the judges, hair and makeup artists, fashion designers, photographers, and volunteers over the week, as well as over the years that I’ve been a part of this system. I have made so many amazing lifelong friends and look forward to all of your journeys, whatever they may hold. I will also take this opportunity to remember Mary Ward, an amazing sash sister and friend, who lit up every room she walked in and had incredible moral character. I hope that she would be proud of the decisions that I and others have made to be true to ourselves, as she often told us to be. I was extremely disappointed to see that during her tribute on stage, a foreword wasn't included to not record this moment, while people were clearly grieving. Let’s not continue to use someone’s death to elicit sympathy for your mismanagement or for your own personal clout, and let us mourn with integrity.
To those who have supported my pageant journey since the beginning- thank you. Your kindness, encouragement, and belief in me have meant more than you know. I will be taking a much-needed break from pageantry to prioritise completing my PhD next year, amongst other things, and I look forward to stepping back into it when I am ready. When I return to pageantry, it will be with an organisation that aligns with my values and core beliefs. Lastly, I know that I don’t need a crown and sash to continue doing what I do in my communities, both through my work, volunteering, and working with various charities that are close to my heart, and that community recognition is enough for me. Funnily enough, not long after returning from this pageant I was recognised with a community impact award for all my work in suicide prevention and social and emotional wellbeing at a prestigious Indigenous mental health conference. I do what I do to make my community and ancestors proud.
With respect, Michelle Gissara.Show less