Catriona Gray wowed the press when she was asked what she thought about Miss Universe relaxing its rules to allow mothers and married women to join the prestigious beauty pageant.
In an interview that first appeared on Pep.ph during the recently-concluded Preview Ball 2022, the Miss Universe 2018 titleholder said that the Miss Universe Organization's decision was a "step towards inclusivity."
"I think it's really timely to allow women in whatever capacity to go after the dream of being a Miss Universe," she told reporters. "However, I do see it would be difficult for a young mother with young children to balance the responsibility and schedule that comes with being a Miss Universe."
From her experience, Catriona added, "I've done it for a year and it's a grueling schedule. It pulls you to different corners of the world and you don't really have a say where your schedule will take you. In that aspect, it would be quite difficult to balance, but hopefully, with that opening up of those all-inclusive measures, they'll hopefully give guidelines or things to protect the interests of women and allow her to be there for her family and also to her responsibilities as a Miss Universe."
Catriona also said that she supports Miss Universe's rule change that would take effect starting with the 72nd Miss Universe competition. "I mean, Miss Universe is a dream and I believe it's a platform to represent something," she added. "We go out there not as an image, as a desirable image, but to have a voice and to be able to amplify that. And why should being married or being a mother limit women from being able to do that, to be a spokesperson, to be an influence?"
Spoken like a true queen, Catriona!
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