Clémence Botino (born 22 January 1997) is a French beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss France 2020 Miss France 2020 was the 90th edition of the Miss France pageant, held on 14 December 2019 at the Le Dôme de Marseille in Marseille. Vaimalama Chaves of Tahiti crowned her successor Clémence Botino of Guadeloupe by the end of the event. She r ...

. She represented France at

Miss Universe 2021 Miss Universe 2021 was the 70th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Universe Dome in Eilat, Israel on 13 December 2021. At the end of the event, Harnaaz Sandhu of India was crowned Miss Universe 2021 by Andrea Meza of Mexico. It was India's f ...

, where she reached the top 10. She also represented her country at

Miss World 2023 Miss World 2023 was the 71st edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, on 9 March 2024. At the end of the event, Krystyna Pyszková of the Czech Republic was crowned by the previo ...

, where she reached the top 40.

Early life and education

Clémence Botino was born 22 January 1997 in

Le Gosier Le Gosier (; ) is a communes of France, commune in the overseas departments and regions of France, French overseas region and overseas departments of France, department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is located on the south side of the ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

, France. In her adolescence, she was a pianist then dancer, especially in

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

. She obtained a

scientific Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

in 2014. At the age of 17, she lived for a year in the United States and studied costume at an international school in Miami, to improve her English. After two years of preparatory literary courses at the Lycée Gerville-Réache, she moved to Paris in 2018 for the third year of her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

and then in the first year of her master's degree in

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

; with her ambition to become a

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

curator, she specialized in the study of fashion history.

Pageantry

Miss Guadeloupe 2019

On 3 August 2019, she won

Miss Guadeloupe Miss Guadeloupe is a French beauty pageant which selects a representative for the Miss France national competition from the overseas region of Guadeloupe. The first Miss Guadeloupe was crowned in 1937, although the pageant was not held regularly u ...

, succeeding Ophély Mézino.

Miss France 2020

On 14 December 2019, she won

at the Dôme de

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. She received 31.95% of the public vote, narrowly winning ahead of Lou Ruat (

Miss Provence Miss Provence is a French beauty pageant which selects a representative for the Miss France national competition from the departments of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, Hautes-Alpes, Vaucluse, and portions of Var in the region of Prove ...

) with 30.66%, succeeding

Vaimalama Chaves Vaimalama Chaves (born 3 December 1994) is a French singer, beauty pageant titleholder, and model who was crowned Miss France 2019. Chaves had previously won Miss Tahiti 2018 and became the fourth representative from French Polynesia to win the ...

Miss France 2019 Miss France 2019 was the 89th edition of the Miss France pageant, held on 15 December 2018 at the Zénith de Lille in Lille. The competition was hosted by Jean-Pierre Foucault, Sylvie Tellier, and Miss France 2018 Maëva Coucke, while singer an ...

, and became the third Miss Guadeloupe to win

Miss France Miss France is a national beauty pageant in France held annually in December. The competition was first held in 1920, and has been organized continuously since 1947. The trademark for the pageant is owned by the company Miss France SAS, and is ...

after Véronique de la Cruz in 1993 and Corinne Coman in 2003. Before her win, it was announced in early December that Botino was first in the general culture test of the Miss France competition, with a mark of 17.5 out of 20. She ended her reign as Miss France on 19 December 2020 after crowning

Amandine Petit Amandine Petit (; born 30 September 1997) is a French model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss France 2021. She had previously been crowned Miss Normandy 2020, and is the seventh woman from Normandy to win Miss France. She repr ...

as her successor during

Miss France 2021 Miss France 2021 was the 91st edition of the Miss France pageant. The competition was held on 19 December 2020 at Puy du Fou in Les Epesses, Pays de la Loire. Clémence Botino of Guadeloupe crowned Amandine Petit of Normandy as her successor at ...

, held at

Puy du Fou Le Puy du Fou () is a historical theme park in Les Epesses, in the Pays de la Loire region of western France. It receives more than 2 million visitors every year, making it one of the most popular theme parks in France. In 2024, it was the third ...

Les Epesses Les Epesses (), also spelled as Les Épesses, is a commune in the Vendée department, Pays de la Loire, western France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its oversea ...

. Botino represented France at

. She was originally set to represent France at

Miss Universe 2020 Miss Universe 2020 was the 69th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, United States, on 16 May 2021. At the end of the event, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa crowned Andrea Meza of Mexic ...

, but due to potential date conflicts between Miss Universe 2021 and

Miss France 2022 Miss France 2022 was the 92nd edition of the Miss France pageant, held at the Zénith de Caen in Caen, Normandy, on 11 December 2021. Amandine Petit of Normandy crowned Diane Leyre of Île-de-France. Leyre represented France at Miss Universe 2 ...

, she was instead switched to Miss Universe 2021 while Petit competed at Miss Universe 2020. Botino tested positive for COVID-19 upon arriving at Miss Universe, and was taken to a government isolation hotel. She had been fully vaccinated, and had been tested upon departure. She was released from quarantine after ten days and was authorized to rejoin the competition. For the national costume competition, Botino wore an outfit paying tribute to

Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...

, made of a set of rhinestone lingerie adorned with jewels and large feather wings. Her performance during the evening gown competition was less successful, as she tripped on the hem of her dress. Botino reached the top ten, the highest placement among the European candidates. Botino represented France at

, where she placed in the top 40.

Post-pageantry

In 2025, Botino began working full-time as a

digital communications Data communication, including data transmission and data reception, is the transfer of data, signal transmission, transmitted and received over a Point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication chann ...

advisor for the French National Commission for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botino, Clémence 1997 births Living people French beauty pageant winners Miss France winners Paris-Sorbonne University alumni French people of Guadeloupean descent Miss Universe 2021 contestants Miss World 2023 delegates Miss Guadeloupe winners