Canadian beauty queen Siera Bearchell says she was bullied for her weight during Miss Universe pageant: 'The world called me fat'
Siera Bearchell is opening up about the journey to rebuild her confidence during her time as Miss Universe Canada. In an Instagram post on Monday, Bearchell said she faced intense scrutiny and bullying for her weight while representing Canada at the Miss Universe pageant in 2017.
On Monday, Bearchell shared a series of images to Instagram from her time as Miss Universe Canada, including a photo of herself in a swimsuit that included the text, 'The world called me fat and this is what I did…'
Throughout the carousel, Bearchell said that her excitement was tainted by hurtful comments when she arrived at the Miss Universe competition in Manila.
'I showed up and people started calling me 'fat,' 'Miss Piggy Universe' and 'whale,'' she wrote. 'I was labelled the plus-sized contestant. People even accused me of gaining weight on purpose to 'stand out.''
According to Bearchell, she had 'minimal support' from the national team.
'I could feel they didn't believe in me, and I started to lose confidence in myself,' she added. 'Until I remembered that I got to this point because I wasn't afraid to show up as me. I came this far because I knew that beauty and confidence was beyond size. My dream of standing on the Miss Universe stage was achieved because I had more to offer to the world than a number on a scale.'
Bearchell, who ultimately finished in the top nine, said she spent the days before the pageant working to repair her confidence so that she could 'stand tall' and 'proud.'
'I quite literally coached myself into having the confidence to step on that stage … even when the world was making memes of me that were making fun of me for not being as thin as the other contestants,' she continued.
The now 32-year-old married mother-of-two said she's been using the 'confidence tips and tricks' to help her 'show up' in her life.
'I have realized people will doubt you and it's up to you to show up anyways,' she said.
The post earned praise from followers who applauded Bearchell for weathering the storm of negativity.
'I am so amazed with the way you expressed yourself and how you owned the stage with so much confidence and that's the purpose of Miss Universe,' a follower wrote. 'Beauty competitions or pageantries supersede just having a beautiful body…'
'And you were literally a size 6/8,' wrote former Miss Universe contestant Jill Lavertu. 'I will say, I'm so glad I lost to you because you won with confidence, integrity and grace. Beautiful then, beautiful now.'
In 2023, Berachell posted a clip of herself giving a talk to students at Rundle College in Calgary, Alta., discussing the importance of self worth.
'No matter what, people are going to judge me," she said. "As long as I'm happy with who I am and I'm exuding that confidence myself, that's what really matters.
"The relationship we have with ourselves, really sets the tone for many things in our lives," she continued. 'Really having that strong sense of inner worth and how we see ourselves. The inner dialogue is way more important than a lot of us believe. How we speak to ourselves — 'cause we would never speak to friends the way we speak to ourselves right?"
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