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Angela Traverso wins Mrs Universe Classic

By Elena Scialtiel
It was a whirlwind week for Angela Traverso, she was crowned Mrs Gibraltar Classic on a Friday, and days later was whisked to Sofia, Bulgaria, where she won the Mrs Universe Classic pageant.

The Mrs Universe Classic pageant is coming to Gibraltar later this autumn and the planning is already on the way for organisers Mark Andrades and Angel Ressa.

Mrs Traverso will be a big part of the show, and will also be busy supporting fundraising for local charities.

She also had the “luck of the gods” when at a press party before the pageant fine, on the very day of her 52nd birthday, she won the diamond hidden in one of the champagne flutes offered to all the delegates.

Angela, who had never entered a beauty pageant before, signed up for Mrs Gibraltar Classic for a new experience.

Winning it has been added bonus, but the ride outside her comfort zone reminded her of what she teaches her class of small children in school: they can be or do everything they want to do and be, if they work towards it, and this does apply to adults too.

She said that pageantry may be seen as just superficial, but in her experience it has been about determination, motivation, self-confidence, and bravery.

“I returned to work the Tuesday after the show, and I brought sash and crown to show to my class, and, observing them, a three-year old girl asked me: ‘Miss Angela, what do you want to be when you grow up?’, and that surprised and moved me. I answered that I hadn’t decided yet, and returned the question, and she replied: ‘A farmer!’. This sends the message that the drive to do something makes it possible at any age.”

Mrs Traverso has enjoyed her journey to Mrs Gibraltar Classic as the space just for herself within a busy schedule of juggling a young family of four children aged 11 to 20, and her job.

Her husband encouraged her to make the most of this time, and she forged new friendships with the other delegates, and the tight-knit group she dubbed ‘girl guides’.

“My mother was wise and beautiful; she raised a traditional family of six children: she was hard-working and she always made sure to have the house ready and dinner ready, but never forgot to wear make-up, perfume, nice clothes, be coiffed and look lovely. She used to tell us: don’t give all of you away, always keep something for yourself.”

This means that one must take care of oneself first, before, and in order to, take care of others.

Mrs Traverso was crowned the winner of more than 50 other contestants in the pageant from all over the world, including Korea, Singapore, Japan, Spain, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Russia and Siberia.
She paraded in her Gibraltar national costume during the pageant.

Being a sporty person, she chose fitness for the talent show, and displayed a two-minute routine choreographed for her by Raul Mesa on the theme song to Wonder Woman.

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