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Miss Philippines Catriona Gray, Whose ‘Lava Walk’ Went Viral, Crowned Miss Universe 2018

byJinal Bhatt
17th December 2018
2 minute read

It’s that time of the year again, peeps, when the most prestigious of beauty pageants happen, to give you your Miss World and Miss Universe for the year.

This year, the coveted Miss Universe crown rests upon the pretty head of Miss Philippines Catriona Gray!

The pageant was held in Bangkok, Thailand last night and Miss Philippines was crowned the most beautiful woman in the universe!

She beat Miss South Africa and Miss Venezuela in the top three to win this prestigious title. Check out the moment of her coronation!

The 24-year-old Catriona beat 93 contestants from across the globe to win the title. Her answer to the question about marijuana legalisation and her winning answer were what cemented her victory!

Watch her winning answer to the standard Miss Universe final question about what life lesson would she implement in he role as a Miss Universe.

But let’s give credit where credit is due, shall we?

A huge credit for Miss Philippines’ win goes to her stunning ‘lava walk’ and the slow-mo twirl she did on the ramp during the prelim round, which has gone viral and even inspired memes and gifs!

Her enthusiasm, confidence and beauty made her a favourite, but her walk on the ramp drove the audience insane! It literally appeared as if the livestream slowed down for that moment when she twirled! Check it out!

The walk has been dubbed ‘lava walk’, inspired by the Mayon Volcano in her hometown of Albay.

In fact, her stunning outfit for the finale was also inspired by the same volcano! Doesn’t she look red hot and sizzling like volcanic lava on legs?

View this post on Instagram

MAYON: Fiery and Lovely Perfection Today, Catriona is coming home. She is celebrating her roots – she is celebrating Albay! The prominent and iconic Mayon Volcano is the penultimate inspiration for this creation. It is dubbed as the ‘perfect cone’ because of its symmetric conical form. Folk tales have it that it was named after the mythological heroine ‘Daragang Magayon’ (Beautiful Lady). Despite its pulchritude is the fact that it is the most active volcano in the Philippines erupting numerous times in the past half a millennium. Catriona can be considered as the modern-day Daragang Magayon. She embodies the Filipina’s beauty, intelligence and burning passion. This lady is definitely on fire! Watch her erupt right before your very eyes and let the lava of grace, goodness and hope flow.

A post shared by Mak Tumang (@maktumang) on

The lava walk went crazy viral, with people tagging supermodel Tyra Banks and exclaiming how proud she’d be of that heart-stopping walk and perfect twirl!

And girl, she was! Banks herself tweeted about it!

FYI, ‘pinoy’ is a term often used to refer to people from the Philippines.

And Catriona was absolutely overwhelmed by the appreciation from such an icon! She tweeted about her surprise!

With her win, Gray becomes the fourth Filipina to bring the crown home. She takes over from Miss Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa.

Congratulations Queen!

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