Penang-born Leggett is Miss Universe Malaysia 2012

AFTER months of auditions, photo shoots and elimination, the search for the next Miss Universe Malaysia 2012 came to an end last week when Penang-born Kimberley Ann Estrop-Leggett was crowned the winner.

The 18-year-old thanked the crowd, her fans and family for standing by her and supporting her throughout her journey.

“I cannot believe it myself that I have won, all I could think of was ‘oh my God!’ this is actually happening, it is real,” she said.

Leggett was crowned the title after defeating crowd favourite and first runner-up Gabriella Robinson, second runner-up Boon Lu Xanne and fourth placed Juanita Ramayah.

“She waited so long to try it out and eventually went to the auditions on the last day,” said her parents Stephen and Jillian Leggett who was at the Sunway Convention Centre to support their only daughter.

Stephen said his daughter had earlier deferred her studies to next month to allow her to participate in the competition.

“Now that she has won, she will have to put her plans to attend University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on hold again,” he said, adding that the family too had not expected Kimberley to win but encouraged her to do her best in every round.

The prestigious gala night event kicked off with all 19 finalists parading swim wear apparel from Kyla Ruiz, followed by the presentation of seven subsidiary awards to the chosen finalists.

Leggett took the Miss Photogenic and Nestle Fitnesse Award while Juanita Ramayah snapped up the My Dentist Best Smile and the Johnnie Walker Keep Walking title.

The A Cut Above Best Hair Award went to Gabriella Robinson who also received the most number of SMS votes from the public which accounted for 20% of the final result.

Other subsidiary titles winners were Cassandra Kiu taking the Rimmel London Look, while Miss Congeniality was awarded to Jennifer Goh.

The ‘live’ telecast segment came on at 9pm where emcee Will Quah took over the stage by introducing the 19 finalists to the audience.

The list was then cut down to the nine girls which was earlier determined through a popular vote system based on the six episode reality show, BeautyCamp.

The night continued with an evening gown display by the girls followed by the announcement of the top four participants where they were posed questions from the judges.

Judges for the finale included designers Amir Luqman, Bill Keith and Stephanie Kay, former beauty queen Datin Josephine Lena Fonseka, fashion guru Gillian Hung and model management icon Andrew Tan.

“To the new Miss Universe Malaysia, you have almost a full year of preparation before you are called to fill the shoes of Deborah Henry, Miss Universe Malaysia 2011,” said Miss Universe Malaysia Organisation national director Andrea Fonseka.

Fonseka added that she was confident her team together with the support from Malaysians, Leggett would be able to shine brightly at the Miss Universe 2012 pageant.