Miss World Vietnam’s strong personality surprises some

Miss World Vietnam 2022 Huynh Nguyen Mai Phuong. Photo from Phuong’s Instagram

“You might be surprised to see a beauty pageant winner with a strong personality like me, but I want to show you how a ‘Generation Z’ beauty contest winner could behave,” the 24-year-old told VnExpress.

Despite that, Phuong said she was thankful for the public’s responses, both positive and not, which helped her to improve herself.

“I will show everyone how I have improved in the coming time,” she said.

According to Phuong, one of the traits that a mature person possesses is to not hesitate to apologize when they know they are in the wrong. She was confident that she had this trait, as she had never been reluctant to say sorry when she had to, even when the apology was merely for raising concern, not necessarily because she’d done anything wrong.

But that does not mean that Phuong doesn’t have any regrets over what she did since her coronation. She said she was sad seeing how her family members, friends, and acquaintances had to speak up for and apologize on her behalf. But she considered that a chance for her to learn how to show her gratitude towards them more frequently, which she had done ever since.

Phuong got into another controversy at the beginning of this year, after a video of her dancing in revealing clothes with a lollipop in her mouth circulated on social media.

Some said she should be more considerate of her public image before representing her nation at the 2023 Miss World contest. Others believed that Phuong’s moves in the video were normal and she was simply doing what she was supposed to do during an event held by a company she was endorsing for.

Phuong then stated that she thought it was normal for someone who enjoyed music like her to dance: “I hope people view this in as positive a light as possible.”

Discussing her private life, Phuong said she was choosing to remain single to focus on her career responsibilities instead of a romantic relationship.

She is set to represent Vietnam at the 2023 Miss World contest. She said she would try to improve herself even more based on responses from the public and the media, hoping that doing so would make her image more public-friendly.

Phuong also said she was planning to become more original, as she knows this will be the only way to survive in the entertainment industry.

“I’m really excited and looking forward to my upcoming journey,” she said. “Grateful as well, for all the love I have received.”

Several controversies marred Phuong’s reign over the last 12 months.

She stirred debate last September when she put her Miss World Vietnam tiara up for auction, even when she announced that the money she made selling it would be donated to the “Beauty with a Purpose” charity funds, operated by the Miss World organization, and her own charity projects.

Public opinion was divided by this move. Some showed their support for Phuong, while others said she should have auctioned another item, or a mockup of the tiara instead.

Debates heated up when Pham Kim Dung, Miss World Vietnam president, said a few days after that the tiara was bought by an unnamed bidder for VND3 billion, who gifted it back to Phuong.

The two were then suspected of faking the auction for marketing purposes, to which Dung responded: “We did have an auction, we did raise money, and we did donate it to the charity funds.”

She added that Miss World Vietnam gave Miss World $50,000 and held a voluntary project, in which they visited and supported around 500 children being treated at the HCMC Children’s Hospital using the money from the sale.

The beauty contest winner then raised eyebrows one more time during the 2023 Tet Lunar New Year, when she posted a picture of herself in which a song that mentioned “Chinese New Year” played in the background. The post was then removed, with Phuong publicly apologizing for concerning the public.

“I’m not flawless and still immature sometimes,” she said. “Feedback from the public is like physical punishment from my family, which helps me to grow more mature and more considerate.”

Phuong said that sometimes the pressure became too much and she had even once thought about taking her own life.

Phuong made it to the top 5 of the 2020 Miss Vietnam contest before being crowned Miss World Vietnam 2022. She will represent Vietnam in the 2023 Miss World contest, which is expected to be held in India this December.