Final 12 months, ecstatic Sarasota native Noelia Voigt mentioned “my thoughts is blown” in an Instagram put up when she was topped Miss USA to symbolize the nation within the Miss Universe contest after years of effort.
On Monday she posted once more, however this time to announce she was stepping all the way down to protect her psychological well being.
“My journey as Miss USA has been extremely significant, representing Utah with satisfaction, and later the USA at Miss Universe (held in November),” Voigt mentioned. “Sadly, I’ve made the very powerful choice to resign from the title of Miss USA 2023.”
Two days later Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava of New Jersey, additionally topped in September, stepped down saying her “private values not totally align with the path of the group.”
Voigt acknowledged that her resignation may “come as a big shock to many” in her put up’s caption and suggested readers to “By no means compromise your bodily and psychological well-being. Our well being is our wealth.”
However followers imagine her message could have contained a clue to her choice.
This is what to know concerning the former Miss USA.
Who’s Miss USA Noelia Voigt?
She represented Utah within the pageant, however Voigt, 24, was born in Sarasota to a Venezuelan mom, Jackeline Coromoto Briceño from Maracaibo, and an American father, Sarasota-Venice native Jack David Voigt, an expert baseball participant who performed for the performed as an outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Oakland As earlier than teaching for groups within the U.S. and Venezuela based on his web site.
Voigt attended Pine View Excessive College in Osprey after which attended Aveda Institute Birmingham, Jefferson State Group School, and the College of Alabama, based on her LinkedIn profile. A licensed esthetician, she co-founded the Iron Metropolis Lash Bar in Birmingham, Alabama earlier than working as an inside design marketing consultant for RH Design in Alabama.
However her different ardour was magnificence pageants. Her mom made her wait till she was a teen, she informed Enterprise Insider, after which she was bullied by her buddies for it.
“It has been a journey of perseverance and never giving up,” she mentioned.
She wanted that perseverance. She gained Miss Sarasota Teen USA in 2015, was first runner-up in Miss Florida Teen USA in 2017 and gained Miss Florida Teen USA in Daytona Seashore in 2018. She was first runner-up for Miss Alabama USA in each 2022 and 2023. In 2023, she moved to Salt Lake Metropolis to compete within the Miss Utah competitors and gained. She went on to win Miss USA 2023 in September in Reno, Nevada, the primary Venezuelan-American girl to take action.
“To assume that seven years in the past I used to be simply beginning my pageant journey and now I’m Miss USA 2023,” Voigt mentioned in an Instagram put up on the time. “My thoughts is blown.”
In November, Voigt represented the U.S. within the Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador, the place she positioned within the high 20.
Why did Noelia Voigt step down as Miss USA?
Voigt didn’t present specifics in her prolonged Instagram put up.
In a remark, her mom posted, “As your mom, it has been an enormous reduction to see my Noelia’s persona restored. We’re extraordinarily happy with you to your selflessness in standing up for what is true whereas additionally prioritizing what’s finest for you. I noticed how your persona modified and the way your mild light. It broke our hearts. We’re so completely satisfied in the present day to see you being you once more. Welcome dwelling. ❤️”
“We respect and help former Miss USA Noelia Voigt’s choice to step down from her duties,” the Miss USA group mentioned in an announcement shared with USA TODAY. “The well-being of our titleholders is a high precedence, and we perceive her have to prioritize herself at the moment.”
Had been there clues to Noelia Voigt’s resignation?
Voigt’s resignation got here days after the Miss USA’s social media director, Claudia Michelle, resigned. She cited an absence of help and compensation from the group however took the chance to say that she was frightened a few decline within the psychological well being of Voigt and Miss Teen USA Uma Sofia.
“I do not imagine in taking sides. I imagine in telling the reality,” she mentioned. “I imagine Noelia and Uma’s psychological well being and happiness has taken a toll and I can not stay silent about that. I’ll all the time stand for and help the model that uplifts and empowers its ladies. The model IS the titleholders. With out them, there is no such thing as a Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. I imagine their voices and their tales must be heard and never silenced.”
Followers commenting on Voigt’s put up and elsewhere observed that the primary letter in every sentence of her assertion, apart from the final three, spells out “I AM SILENCED.” It’s not but identified if this was intentional. USA TODAY has reached out to Voigt and the Miss USA Group for remark.
Voigt has been a powerful anti-bullying advocate since she mentioned she was bullied herself after competing in her first pageant when she was 16. Whereas she was a scholar at UA she wrote a kids’s ebook, “Maddie the Courageous,” based mostly on 9-year-old Birmingham woman Madison “Maddie” Whittsett who died by suicide in 2018 after being bullied by different college students at her faculty. In her put up Monday, Voigt spoke about her give attention to anti-bullying, home violence consciousness and prevention and immigration reform.
“Deep down I do know that is just the start of a brand new chapter for me, and my hope is that I proceed to encourage others to stay steadfast, prioritize your psychological well being, advocate for your self and others through the use of your voice, and by no means be afraid of what the longer term holds, even when it feels unsure,” Voigt mentioned in her put up.
Who will exchange Noelia Voigt as Miss USA?
The Miss USA group is at present reviewing plans for the transition of obligations to a successor, a spokesperson mentioned. “An announcement concerning the crowning of the brand new Miss USA can be coming quickly.”
The Miss USA 2023 runner-up was Savannah Gankiewicz, Miss Hawaii USA. KHON2 in Hawaii reported that she has been provided the title however has not but formally accepted.
Miss America started in 1921 because the “Inter-Metropolis Magnificence Contest” in Atlantic Metropolis, New Jersey and grew right into a nationwide occasion.
Miss USA began in 1952 as a result of a Miss America winner refused to pose in a swimsuit. Yolande Betbeze, who had been educated in a convent faculty, held her floor beneath strain from the Miss America group (sponsored, partly, by Catalina Swimwear). An offended Catalina based a competing occasion in Lengthy Seashore and likewise went on to discovered Miss Universe, the most-watched magnificence contest on the earth.
Miss USA has gone by a number of house owners since, together with former President Donald Trump, who owned it and the Miss Universe pageant from 1996 to 2015.
Miss USA is open to contestants between the ages of 18 and 28 and features a swimsuit portion and night robe presentation, however no expertise competitors. The competitors emphasizes range and inclusion. Winners transfer ahead to compete in Miss Universe.
Miss America is open to contestants between the ages of 17 and 26. They compete in a expertise competitors and will select what they put on for the night portion.
In 2018, Miss America dropped the swimsuit competitors for the primary time. A few of the contestents have been happy, however the occasion misplaced 1,000,000 viewers.
Contributing: Brendon Morrow and Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY