Irene Sofía Esser Quintero (born 20 November 1991) is a Venezuelan actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Venezuela 2011. Esser grew up in

Río Caribe Río Caribe is a colorful fishing town located 22 kilometers (about 14 miles) from Carúpano, Sucre State, in Eastern Venezuela. It is the capital city of the Arismendi municipality. History Río Caribe was founded on 1713 with the name of '' ...

Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...

, Venezuela. She represented Venezuela in

Miss Universe 2012 Miss Universe 2012 was the 61st Miss Universe pageant, held at the PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on December 19, 2012. The contest was won by Olivia Culpo of the United States, who was crow ...

, finishing as 2nd Runner-Up.

Personal life

Irene Esser was born in the city of Puerto Ordaz, but has studied and lived in the town of

, located in the state of

, since she was a little girl. Her father, Billy Esser Bonta, is an important cacao businessman, owner of Hacienda Bukare, founded in 1997. After graduating from "Andres Bello High School" in Carupano, she moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where she took a course at Shrewsbury College.

Pageantry

Miss Venezuela 2011

Esser, who stands , competed as Miss Sucre, one of 24 finalists in her

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

's national beauty pageant Miss Venezuela 2011, held on 15 October 2011 in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, where she obtained the ''Miss Elegance'' award and became the third

Miss Venezuela Miss Venezuela (Spanish: ''Organización Miss Venezuela'') is a Venezuelan beauty pageant operated by the Cisneros Group. Founded in 1952, it currently selects Venezuelan representatives to Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International. ...

winner from

, gaining the right to represent her

Miss Universe 2012

Esser represented

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

at the

pageant on 19 December 2012, in

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USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, where she finished as 2nd Runner-Up behind

Janine Tugonon Janine Marie Raymundo Tugonon (; born October 19, 1989) is a Filipino actress, TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2012. She represented the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2012 pageant, win ...

(Philippines) and winner

Olivia Culpo Olivia Frances Culpo (born May 8, 1992) is an American model, actress, and media personality. Culpo has won Miss Rhode Island USA, Miss USA 2012, and Miss Universe 2012. Early life and education Olivia Frances Culpo was born on May 8, 1992, ...

(USA). She was one of the favorites to win the pageant. However, she faltered during the final question round and finished in third place. She has outdone two prior Miss Venezuela Marelisa Gibson (who failed to place) and Vanessa Gonçalves (who finished in the Top 16). When asked by judge

Diego Boneta Diego Andrés González Boneta (born 29 November 1990) is a Mexican actor, producer and singer. He gained wider recognition after starring in ''Rock of Ages (2012 film), Rock of Ages'' (2012) alongside Tom Cruise and in the Netflix biographical ...

"If you could make a new law, what would it be and explain why?", Esser responded:

I think that any leyes (laws) there are in Constitution or in life, are already made. I think that we should have, uh, a straight way to go in our similar, or, eh, in our lives as is this. For example, I'm a surfer, and I think that the best wave that I can take is the wave that I wait for it. So please do our only, eh, law that we can do. Thank you Vegas!

Esser was criticized by media, mocked by Craig Carton, Don Geronimo, Lili Estefan,

Perez Hilton Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting Tabloid jou ...

, Pablo Ramírez, Raul De Molina, amongst other personalities for her incomprehensible response and a video of her final question and answer became popular on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Her answer was even compared to Caitlin Upton's infamous response to her final question.

Filmography

In 2013, Irene was cast to star in the

Venevisión Venevisión () is a Venezuelan free-to-air television channel and one of Venezuela's largest television networks, owned by the Cisneros Media division of Grupo Cisneros. It was founded in 1961 by Diego Cisneros. It is one of the major telenove ...

telenovela titled ''

Corazón Esmeralda Corazón (Spanish "heart") may refer to: Film and TV * ''Corazón'' (film), a 1947 Argentine film * Corazon, an episode from season 6, of ''Criminal Minds'' * Corazon, the alias of a minor character in the manga series One Piece Music Albums * ...

'' alongside

Luis Gerónimo Abreu Luis Gerónimo Abreu Ascanio (born 7 September 1972) is a Venezuelan actor best known for his performance in telenovelas. Biography Luis Gerónimo Abreu was born in Caracas on 7 September 1972 to Luis Abreu, an actor and theater director and Ha ...

.ElUniversal.com Irene Esser protagonizará "Corazón de Esmeralda"
/ref>

References

External links

Miss Venezuela Official WebsiteMiss Venezuela La Nueva Era MB
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esser, Irene 1991 births Venezuelan people of German descent Living people Miss Universe 2012 contestants Miss Venezuela winners People from Ciudad Guayana Viral videos Venezuelan telenovela actresses