Title sweeps Miss SA off her feet

31 March 2015 - 02:00 By Andile Ndlovu

Miss South Africa Liesl Laurie celebrated her victory by falling asleep in her hotel room. Then again, who can blame her for getting her eight hours in ahead of the hectic interview schedule she faced yesterday?Laurie was crowned Miss SA at the Sun City Superbowl on Sunday.She said: " If I had to go back to my room, after being crowned, by myself, who do you celebrate with?"You have to call people. So it was amazing having [my family] there. We got to my room, ordered room service, sat on the couch covered in our blankies and it was just nice to reflect on the night. It was fun."We obviously can't wait to watch it again on TV."As Laurie responded to questions, a stylist fixed her hair, and another assistant asked what she wanted for lunch.She asked for a chicken salad, with "lots and lots of avo".Despite her win, the 24-year-old from Eldorado Park was still kicking herself for her response in the Q&A segment. The top five contestants were asked what question they would ask a person, dead or alive, if given the chance.Laurie answered that she would speak to previous winners of the competition and ask for their wisdom.Her answer prompted viewers to take to Twitter, saying she had killed her chances of taking the crown. They were wrong.She said: "I will admit I wasn't too delighted about my answer. I think I struggled a bit. But then I'm happy the whole pageant is not based on one answer and one night. That's what South Africa needs to understand. A beauty pageant is not based on that walk in a bikini and that one question."We've been at it for five months, so it's five months of questions and answers and five months of them watching you and seeing if you can even handle the pressures of being a Miss SA."She said there was a great rapport between the Miss SA contestants and that, in their downtime, they even created their own awards show with categories such as "Best Hugger", "Best Smile" and "Shoulder To Cry On". Laurie won "Strike A Pose" and "Best Smile". And the crown...

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