Leila Lopes (Miss Universe)

Leila Lopes

Beauty pageant titleholder
Lopes at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival world premiere of Mansome
Born	Leila Luliana da Costa Vieira Lopes[1] (1986-02-26) 26 February 1986[1] Benguela, Angola[2]
Other names	Leila Lopes
Residence	New York City, USA[3]
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)[4]
Title(s)	Miss Angola UK 2010 Miss Angola 2010 Miss Universe 2011
Major competition(s)	Miss Angola 2010 (Winner) (Miss Photogenic) Miss Universe 2011 (Winner)
Spouse	Osi Umenyiora (m. 2015)

Leila Luliana da Costa Vieira Lopes (born 26 February 1986) is an Angolan actress, model and beauty queen who won the titles of Miss Angola UK 2010, Miss Angola 2010 and Miss Universe 2011.

Early life

Lopes was born on 26 February 1986 in Benguela, Benguela Province, Angola.^[5][6][7] Prior to being a contestant in beauty pageants, she studied business management at University Campus Suffolk in Ipswich, England.^[6][8][9] Lopes is actively involved in raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and the discrimination that people with the disease experience.^[6][10][11]

Career

Lopes in 2012

Miss Angola UK 2010

While living and studying in Britain, she participated in Miss Angola UK on 8 October 2010. Lopes won the title, giving her the opportunity to represent the British Angolan community in Miss Angola 2011.^[12]

Miss Angola 2010

Lopes beat 20 other candidates to be named Miss Angola in Luanda on 18 December 2010, gaining her the right to represent Angola in Miss Universe 2011.^[13] She also obtained the Photogenic Award during the contest.^[14]

Miss Universe 2011

After being crowned Miss Universe

On 12 September 2011, Lopes was crowned Miss Universe in São Paulo, Brazil, receiving the title from the former Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete of Mexico.^[15][16] She is currently the 60th Miss Universe titleholder, and is the first Angolan woman to hold the position.^[17] Lopes is the seventh woman of African descent to win the title since the beginning of the worldwide pageant (following Miss Trinidad and Tobago in 1977, Miss South Africa in 1978, Miss Namibia in 1992, Miss USA in 1995, Miss Trinidad and Tobago 1998, and Miss Botswana in 1999) and the fourth African woman from the African continent to win following Mpule Kwelagobe, Miss Universe 1999 from Botswana.^[18] Lopes also became the first woman from Angola to win a "Big Four" beauty pageant.

In October 2011, Lopes paid a visit to Indonesia where she attended local charity events and Puteri Indonesia 2011 Pageant held at Jakarta Convention Center, in Jakarta.^[19][20]

In December 2011, Lopes was invited to attend the first edition of Miss Gabon Pageant in Libreville, Gabon where she crowned the first Gabonese representative to Miss Universe in history, Marie-Noëlle Ada Meyo from Ngounié Province.^[21]

In February 2012, Lopes visited Johannesburg, South Africa. On arrival she was welcomed by Miss South Africa 2011 Melinda Bam at a glitzy red carpet event in Sun City. During her visit, Lopes attended a launch event for African Fashion International on February 16 in support of Joburg Fashion Week 2012, which is scheduled to take place in the following month. She also visited one of Melinda Bam's supported charities - Thuthuzela, an NGO which looks after abandoned and orphaned children in Alexandra Township. Lopes also attended the State of the Province Address by Honourable Thandi Modise, Premier of the North-West, on February 17 at the North-West University, Mafikeng Campus.^[22]

Lopes traveled to Düsseldorf, Germany with her sister titleholders Alyssa Campanella and Danielle Doty for a week-long USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour from 9–14 March 2012. During the week, she also participated the Beauty International Trade Show which took place at Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre.^[23]

Lopes walked the red carpet of the world-renowned Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on 23 May 2012. She also attended the De Grisogono Glam Extravaganza held at the Hotel Du Cap Eden-Roc in Cap D'Antibes, France on the same day. Prior to her visit to France, she was in Lisbon, Portugal for a series of photoshoots and television appearances. Her short visit in Portugal was upon the invitation of Maxim Portugal Magazine.^[24][25]

In June 2012, Lopes embarked on a 5-country West African tour that took her to Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria.^[26] Later that month, Lopes attended the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[27][28]

In October 2012, Lopes traveled to Nicaragua for the "Fashion for Smiles", a spectacular fashion show which organized by Operation Smile Nicaragua with the collaboration from Silhuetas models, took place at the Crowne Plaza Convention Center in Managua with the participation of 15 of Miss Universe 2012 competitors from the Americas.^[29]

During her reign, Lopes traveled to Singapore, Indonesia, Angola, Cambodia, Bahamas, Gabon, Jamaica, South Africa, Germany, Dominican Republic, Portugal, France, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Brazil, Guyana, Nicaragua, Namibia, Kenya, Mozambique, Russia and numerous trips around the USA.

Criticisms and controversies

Legitimacy of Miss Angola UK 2010 victory

After Lopes was crowned Miss Universe 2011, allegations arose that false documents were used to allow her to participate in Miss Angola UK (her win in this round gave her the ability to compete in Miss Angola and subsequently Miss Universe).^{[12][30][31][32]} It was claimed that Lopes had never lived outside of Angola at the time she competed in Miss Angola UK and therefore should not have been allowed to enter a competition that was exclusively for Angolan citizens living in the UK.^[32][33] The controversy began after anonymous witnesses stated^[34][35] that Lopes had joined the contest after the auditions had finished, and Mukano Charles^[36][37] an Angolan promoter, had told Miss Angola UK candidates that he had cast her privately.^[34][38] The concept of a private casting led some of the candidates to believe that it may have taken place in Angola.^[35]

Claims of bribery^[32][38] arose after Charles had been seen conversing with a judge while the contestants were changing outfits.^[34] In 2009, Mukano Charles was accused of involvement with counterfeit documents that allowed a Cape Verdean citizen to participate in Miss Angola^[30][34] and in October 2010, an anonymous colleague stated that Charles would bring women from Iraq and India and pass them off as Angolans so that they could compete in Miss Angola.^[34] Such incidences have led some to believe that Charles is involved in fraud and Lopes' alleged association with him in Miss Angola UK has resulted in these claims emerging.

The use of false documents has since been denied by both Lopes and the Miss Universe organizers^[40][41] and Lopes herself has stated that she had lived in England for a total of four years, including the two years that she was there studying.^[1][42] Any claims that Lopes was ineligible to compete in Miss Angola UK are yet to be backed up with any form of conclusive evidence.^[43]

Personal life

In February 2013, she became engaged to former New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora in Monaco.^[44] Leila Lopes got married to Osi Umenyiora on Saturday, 30 May 2015.^[45]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leila Lopes.

External links

• Official Miss Angola website
• The Washington Post : Miss Universe backlash: Miss France speaks out against Miss Angola

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Ximena Navarrete	Miss Universe 2011	Succeeded by Olivia Culpo
Preceded by Jurema Ferraz	Miss Angola 2011	Succeeded by Marcelina Vahekeni