Catriona Gray Gets Real About The Miss Universe 2025 Results And The Importance Of Transparency

Miss Universe 2025 may have wrapped up, but online conversations about the results are still in full swing. Among those weighing in is Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, who not only revealed her personal favorites but also shared candid thoughts on performance, especially how the question and answer (Q&A) portion continues to hold significant weight for her and should for the competition as well.

For Catriona, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, and China delivered "stellar performances" worthy of their Top 5 placement. She also noted the strong showing of other crowd favorites.

"Thailand, Venezuela, and Colombia were fan favourites for a reason! No shock to see PH, Cote d'Ivoire in the Top 5, they performed so well in both prelims and finals swim and evening! Consistent in every round!" Catriona shared.

The former Miss Universe also gave her honest assessment of the Q&A segment, saying the questions were far from difficult and were, in fact, fundamental prompts that many pageant candidates prepare for early on.

"When it came to the Q&A, the selection of initial questions was good! Although I had super high expectations for the final word," Catriona said.

"I mean sa totoo guys, super basic yung tanong na yan in preparing for MU. If you don't have a super solid answer for that question, ewan ko nalang," she emphasized.

As someone who values communication skills, Catriona highlighted how much the Q&A mattered to her when she was competing and she pointed out who stood out this year: Cote d'Ivoire, who she said delivered the best initial Q&A, and the Philippines, who she named best in final word.

Catriona also clarified in her Instagram broadcast that everything she shared was solely her personal opinion. She emphasized that she does not represent the judges or the Miss Universe Organization, noting she has never judged for MU and is not aware of its current judging procedures.

Still, she stressed the importance of transparency in the competition's criteria and expressed hope for a more structured approach moving forward.

"My prayer has always been (as someone who has experienced a competition with vague judging methods first hand lol), is that the girls be given a fair competition," Catriona expressed. 

"So my question becomes for the MU org. I hope moving forward they can regain the trust of the fans by having a more transparent judging process with a third-party official tabulator," she added.

Questions on fairness surged right after coronation night, fueled further by allegations from Omar Harfouch, the resigned judge who claimed predetermined and politicized results. Catriona acknowledged the growing frustration online and expressed sadness over the backlash, especially toward Miss Mexico, the newly crowned winner.

"I'm actually really sad to see all the hate for Ms Mexico. I really admired how she stood up for herself in the early stages of the competition and I'll be watching to see how she utilizes the platform to make a positive impact with her title as Miss Universe," Catriona said.

In true Miss Universe spirit, Catriona ended by reminding fans to continue championing the women who step on that stage and to keep showing them the support they deserve.