By Desmond
Dubai — The Miss Universe 2025 saga has taken a fresh twist after Miss Palestine, Nadeen Ayoub — the first woman to represent Palestine on the Miss Universe stage — publicly raised concerns about possible irregularities in the competition’s app-based fan voting.
Ayoub posted a video on her social media platforms late on November 23, voicing what she described as a matter of “fairness” and “principle,” rather than personal disappointment.
“I really want to address something very, very important,” she began. “I’m someone that stands for justice, I stand for what’s right, and I will stand up for what I believe is wrong.”
Her remarks focused solely on the Most Beautiful People voting category on the Miss Universe app — the only fan-voted category still open after the pageant had already concluded.
A Voting Category That Never Closed
Ayoub explained that while all other fan-voted categories were wrapped up and winners announced, the Most Beautiful People category remained open far longer than expected.
“Lately, I was leading in the voting category… and it was the only category that didn’t close. They didn’t award anyone, even though the competition was over,” she said.
According to Ayoub, she maintained a comfortable lead until about 30 minutes before the scheduled closure. Then, she alleges, something inexplicable happened.
“Within two minutes, another contestant went up over 20,000 votes,” she said. “It’s very impossible to do unless there’s more than one person voting — and it’s not realistic unless it’s done internally.”
Though Ayoub did not mention any contestant by name or directly accuse anyone of tampering, visuals from the app show her closest competitor was Miss Tanzania.
Her concern, she stressed, was about the speed and scale of the sudden surge.
“And I just find that this is very unjust. It’s actually unjust that this was the only category still open — the one I’m leading.”
As of her statement, Miss Universe organizers had not issued any public clarification on how the app votes were monitored or what led to the abrupt spike.
“This Is Not About the Award”
Ayoub was adamant that her frustration had nothing to do with losing a digital title.
“I’ve gotten the biggest award. I’ve gotten the biggest crown. I’ve gotten the biggest prize by being Miss Palestine, by being the voice of my people,” she said.
Her focus, she explained, was on representation — showcasing Palestinian culture, identity and resilience on an international platform.
“I represented everyone’s voice that wants to speak up, that wants to see justice, that wants to see beauty and culture,” she added.
Speaking out, she said, was her responsibility.
“For me, I believe I’m already a winner, but when something does not seem right, we have to speak up.”
She concluded by tying her stance to her identity:
“As a Palestinian woman, I will stand up for what’s right… whether it’s for myself or for others. And this really feels not right.”
