After two years of keeping their relationship a secret, Miss Argentina and Miss Puerto Rico shared that they were married on October 28!
Mariana Varela (Miss Argentina) and Fabiola Valentín (Miss Puerto Rico) met in 2020 during the annual Miss Grand International competition in Thailand. They each made it into the pageant’s top 10 finalists, and after the competition, both contestants went on to pursue their own modeling careers. Varela also uses her platform to address gender violence.
Over the past 18 months, the pair shared a few photos together, but only spoke about their ‘friendship’ online. Fans assumed that the duo were close based on their social media posts and interactions, but even the most clever followers probably didn’t suspect that they were a couple who had been been secretly dating since the competition.
The two decided to keep their relationship private for nearly two years, but made their relationship public and announced their marriage through a joint instagram post on Friday.
View this post on Instagram
Después de decidir mantener en privacidad nuestra relación, les abrimos las puertas en un día especial. 28/10/22
After deciding to keep our relationship private, we opened the doors to them on a special day. 28/10/22 ❤️?✨
An accompanying 30-second video shares adorable moments from their relationship, engagement, and wedding including romantic walks on the beach, cuddles, champagne toasts, and a candlelit proposal with rose petals and silver and gold balloons spelling, “Marry me?” The Instagram reel ends with the two kissing after their wedding outside of a marriage bureau in San Juan, Puerto Rico on October 28.
Fans and fellow pageant contestants congratulated Varela and Valentín on sharing their beautiful love story with the world. Since announcing their marriage four days ago, the video has accumulated millions of views and comments are flooded with love and support. Abena Akuaba who won Miss Grand International in 2020, said, “Omg congratulations MGI brought together a beautiful union!” And pageant organisers said, “Congratulations to both of you. MGIO always support ‘LOVE’ without boundaries.”
Miss Argentina and Miss Puerto Rico have been married nearly one week, and the pageant is proud that their love story began during the annual Miss Grand International competition. Thailand is a LGBTQ+ friendly tourist destination and it also hosts Miss International Queen which is the largest Transgender beauty competition in the world.
Argentina was the first Latin America country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2010, and Puerto Rico legalised same-sex marriage in 2015.
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