‘I am forever grateful’ — Vanessa Carreira reflects on winning Miss SA 22 years ago
Image: Jerri Mokgofe Photography
Vanessa Carreira-Coutroulis reminisced about how winning Miss South Africa two decades ago changed her life.
Taking to her Instagram timeline hours before the Miss SA pageant started on Saturday, the mom of four was feeling nostalgic.
That evening Natasha Joubert from Tshwane was crowned Miss South Africa 2023 at the pageant finale held at the SunBet Arena at Time Square in Pretoria.
“22 years ago, my life changed forever. Overnight, I went from being a 21-year-old student from Boksburg to having the privilege of representing our beautiful country both at home and internationally. The exciting travel, the people I met and the opportunities that were presented to me changed me forever. I am forever grateful to @official_misssa for the #onceinalifetime experience,” she wrote.
At the helm of the pageant was Bonang Matheba, who was excited to be announced as the host of the Miss SA 2023 event.
“Zozibini won Miss Universe in 2019, which was the last time I hosted the show, so who knows what is going to happen this year. These contestants have been on a fabulous journey and this is the pinnacle. They must make wonderful memories as this is the beginning of their dreams coming true,” Bonang said before the event.
She said she was excited to host for the third time as the pageant is one of the biggest productions on local television.
Bonang was a guest on Metro FM on the breakfast show hosted by DJ Sabby.
When she was asked which dress would be the most expensive, the media personality dropped a R60k bomb.
“There’s one that’s being made by a designer, somewhere. It was about $3,200 [R60,040]. That’s the big opener number,” said Bonang.