R'Bonney Nola Gabriel (; born March 20, 1994) is an American fashion designer and beauty pageant titleholder best known for winning the tile of Miss Universe 2022, becoming the ninth competitor from the US to win the title, as well as the oldest entrant.

Early life and education

R'Bonney Nola Gabriel was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, to a Filipino father, Remigio Bonzon "R. Bon" Gabriel, and an American mother, Dana Walker, who were married in the Philippines. She grew up in Missouri City and later in Friendswood, with three older brothers. Her father was born in the Philippines and is from

Malate, Manila Malate is a district of Manila, Philippines. Together with the district of Ermita, Manila, Ermita, it serves as Manila's center for commerce and tourism. Etymology The name ''Malate'' is derived from a corruption of the Tagalog language, Tagal ...

. He immigrated to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

at the age of 25, later receiving a degree in psychology at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, and then opening a car repair shop. Her mother is from Beaumont. Gabriel spent some time in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

during her childhood playing in the streets, playing tong-its, and watching the parade of Filipino fiestas. She and her family have continued to visit the Philippines during holidays and summer vacations, going back and living in

Malate Malic acid is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a dicarboxylic acid that is made by all living organisms, contributes to the sour taste of fruits, and is used as a food additive. Malic acid has two stereoisomeric forms ( ...

, on the same street where her father is from. Gabriel graduated from the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in fashion design with a minor in fibers. She works as a designer creating eco-friendly clothing, and as a model. She has worked as a sewing instructor at a non-profit organization.

Pageantry

Gabriel's first pageant was Miss Kemah USA 2020, where she reached the top five finalists. She competed at

Miss Texas USA The Miss Texas USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Texas in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. This pageant is part of the Miss USA Organization, owned by Texas nativ ...

2021 as Miss Harris County and was the first runner-up to Victoria Hinojosa of McAllen.

Miss USA 2022

Having won

2022, she went on to win Miss USA 2022, becoming the first

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020. ...

of Filipino descent. Gabriel became the second titleholder from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, after

Chelsi Smith Chelsi Mariam Pearl Smith (August 23, 1973 – September 8, 2018) was an American actress, singer, TV host and beauty queen who was crowned Miss USA 1995 and Miss Universe 1995. Smith was the third Miss USA of African-American origin, after Ca ...

, to win the Miss Universe title. Smith was crowned Miss Universe in

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. After the event, allegations emerged that the competition had been rigged for Gabriel to win. It was claimed that Gabriel traveled to Nizuc Resort and Spa in

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

weeks after Gabriel was crowned Miss Texas USA and was able to shoot promotional material, which the resort's

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account posted less than 24 hours after the final competition. Nizuc has become one of the pageant's sponsors since national director and

Miss USA 2008 Miss USA 2008 was the 57th Miss USA pageant, held at The AXIS in Paradise, Nevada, on April 11, 2008. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned the winner by outgoing titleholder Rachel Smith of T ...

Crystle Stewart Crystle Stewart Sebrechts ( Stewart) (born September 20, 1981) is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder. Stewart began her acting career in 2011, when she played real estate agent Leslie Morris on the OWN/ TBS comedy-drama televisi ...

took over at the end of 2020 after Miss USA and

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant that has been run since 1983 by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19 years old as of January 1st of the competition year. They must be US citizens, and cannot have been married, pregnant, or ...

were separated from the Miss Universe Organization until her suspension. Both Gabriel and Miss Colorado USA Alexis Glover were not included in the official Cancún retreat along with the rest of the contestants as Texas and Colorado had not yet crowned at the time of the retreat. In an interview with ''

E! News ''E! News'', previously known as ''E! News Daily'' and ''E! News Live'', is the infotainment, entertainment news operation for the cable network E! in the United States. Its former on-air weekday newscast debuted on September 1, 1991, and prima ...

'', Gabriel refuted claims that the pageant was rigged. She stated, "I would never enter any pageant or any competition that I know I would win".

Miss Universe 2022

As Miss USA 2022, she represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2022 pageant on January 14, 2023, at the

New Orleans Morial Convention Center The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is located in Downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The lower end of building one is located upriver from Canal Street on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is named after former Mayor of ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana, after being postponed from late 2022 to January 2023 due to the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. She was crowned Miss Universe 2022 by the outgoing titleholder Harnaaz Sandhu of India, making her the ninth American to win the beauty pageant. She is also the sixth mixed-heritage woman to win the Miss Universe title after

at Miss Universe 1995, Brook Lee at Miss Universe 1997,

Pia Wurtzbach Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach-Jauncey (; ; ; born September 24, 1989), formerly professionally known as Pia Romero, is a Filipino model, actress, and beauty pageant titleholder best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2015. Previously, Wurtz ...

at Miss Universe 2015,

Demi-Leigh Tebow Demi-Leigh Tebow ( ; née Nel-Peters; born 28 June 1995) is a South African model and beauty queen best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2017. She was crowned Miss South Africa 2017, and the second Miss Universe winner from South ...

Miss Universe 2017 Miss Universe 2017 was the 66th Miss Universe pageant, held at The AXIS in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on 26 November 2017. At the end of the event, Iris Mittenaere of France crowned Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa as Miss Unive ...

, and

Catriona Gray Catriona Elisa Magnayon Gray ( ; ; born January 6, 1994) is a Filipino beauty queen and media personality best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2018. The fourth Filipina to win Miss Universe, Gray was previously crowned Miss Worl ...

at Miss Universe 2018, as well as the fifth

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

of Filipino descent as well as the first Filipina Miss Universe outside the Philippines. Her victory also made her the first representative from the United States to win Miss Universe since

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, ...

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 ...

. She is also the first Miss Universe titleholder to be born and raised in the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

area. Additionally, she is the second Asian American woman to win the Miss Universe title since Brook Lee at Miss Universe 1997, and also the oldest winner at 28 years old, succeeding

Andrea Meza Alma Andrea Meza Carmona (; born 13 August 1994) is a Mexican beauty pageant titleholder best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2020. The third Mexican contestant to win the title, Meza holds the record for the shortest complete rei ...

of Mexico. In her capacity as Miss Universe, Gabriel traveled to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Guatemala, the Netherlands, South Africa, Honduras, Belize, Mexico, France, El Salvador, and her home country of the United States. On November 18, 2023, Gabriel crowned Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua as her successor at Miss Universe 2023 at the José Adolfo Pineda Arena, San Salvador, El Salvador.

References

External links