I'll be the first to admit that I was not a fan of Michelle Gildenhuys prior to the Miss SA pageant last year. I never quite understood the hype around her and how she managed to win as many regional pageants as she did.Well, during the Miss SA telecast I finally DID see what other people were seeing. She is gorgeous and she epitomises my definition of a beauty queen. I had to admit that she is probably more telegenic than photogenic.
I was very disappointed that she was not named as one of the winners at a Miss SA pageant in which the Top 3 was arguably the least attractive in 20 years. But that is your reward for not spouting the scripted response during the final Q & A round, and standing up to Mama Mafiosa.
Yesterday Michelle was named as the winner of the Miss Tropika pageant held in the Valley of the Waves at Sun City. The pageant is not quite the Beauty Olympics, and from the available photographs it was obvious that she was the clear favourite, but given the bizarre results of some local pageants in the last few years, nothing is caste in stone until the results are announced.
Well done Michelle. I hope to see you in the Miss SA pageant again in 2010.