Throwback Thursday: #TBT-12
Kaiane Aldorino :-Miss World 2009
Kaiane Aldorino is a perfect example of ‘I came, I saw and I conquered’.
All those who followed Miss World 2009 edition, will know how controversial it became. The major controversy was not because Kaiane Aldorino won the pageant but it was more due to the fact that she won over the people certified ‘Goddess’ Perla Beltran of Mexico. Perla finished second in the competition after winning Top Model Fast track. Let’s have a look how the story unfolded in the year 2009.
When Kaiane won Miss Gibraltar 2009, she was not take much seriously by pageant fans. As every other year, she was expected to get a non placement for her country like any other Miss Gibraltar normally. In fact, if you look at the pic, you would never get a vibe of a future Miss World. Do you? Do you? Do you seriously? No…
However, things changed once Kaiane Aldorino arrived in South Africa for the contest. She was yet to be tagged as a front-runner by the people till the time they saw her in Beach Beauty fast track event of Miss World 2009. She not only impressed public and judges with her perfectly toned womanly body but also claimed the title of Beach Beauty. But as the tradition went till then, a winner of Beach Beauty never made it to the Top 5 of the Miss World finale (Except 2004) let alone winning the crown, she was also expected not to place in the Top 5 or win the crown. However, she was hot favourite though as listed by many online pageant portals. The major crowd favourites were the girls from Mexico, South Africa, Puerto Rico, France, Barbados, Brazil and Colombia.
Coming on to the final night, Kaiane Aldorino looked calm and composed. Even her finale answer made sense. However, she was yet to be taken as front-runner, as far as Perla was visible there. But the moment when South Africa and Mexico were declared winner, the last hope was left on Chloe Mortaud, who was also a Top 10 finalist in Miss Universe 2009. But then you hear Mrs. Julia saying, “And Miss World 2009 is….. < Take a nap, get some shower, dress yourself, take some snacks, watch 2-3 episodes of FRIENDS and comeback to see the announcement>….GIBRALTAR…!!! Wtf??? (This is what many thought). People were yet to understand how this dark horse won over goddess Perla? Many came up with their own theory of saying that Perla was too plastic or too dull or too cold for Miss World, I wonder what made her finish 1st runner-up in that case. Kaiane Aldorino was bashed left and right for almost 6 months. However, we loved her personality and charisma throughout the year. We don’t know what kind of Miss World Perla could have been but Kaiane was no less awesome. She was the first ever Miss World from Gibraltar (and last till date). Later that year, Perla Beltran was declared as Miss Grandslam 2009 by one of the leading pageant portal Global Beauties.
Today when I saw this pic of hers, I was stunned. After her reign, Kaiane continued to be deeply involved in her philanthropic and humanitarian work. This lead to her being awarded with the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar and the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour by a unanimous vote in the Gibraltar Parliament. She is now the deputy Mayor of Gibraltar, a role she ascended to in earlier 2014.