Beauty queen denies knowing interview question in advance

When being asked to define the beauty of confidence during the 2023 Miss Universer Vietnam contest final on September 29, Hoa almost instantly provided her answer, saying that the concept could be defined as a woman being confident in herself and thus, being able to lead her own life.

A "confident beauty," according to her, is also someone that can acknowledge others’ successes and get over her own failures in order to improve and become a better version of herself.

It was discovered in the time since that this answer shares similarities with a top result appearing on Google when users search for the phrase "what is the beauty of confidence."

More specifically, Hoa’s answer was partially identical to a 2012 article published on the official website of the Vietnam Women’s Union which wrote: "Confident people are willing to cooperate with others and acknowledge others’ successes."

"They are not worried about those who are better than them. They are humble, as they never become arrogant when they win nor get discouraged when they lose. They consider failures the foundation of their future successes, and see challenges as chances for them to improve their capabilities and determination."

This made the pageant’s viewers raise doubts that the beauty queen had known in advance the interview question asked, and thus provided a smooth answer for it.

Hoa denied the accusation during the contest’s press conference on October 1. She said her smooth answer was the result of her thorough preparation for the contest, as she had competed in the Miss Universe Vietnam contest twice before finally being crowned as the pageant winner this year.

Responding to allegations that her answer was similar to Google results, Hoa said she had done online research about "the beauty of confidence" before the contest, as the topic is also the main theme of the Miss Universe pageant itself.

"There is nothing wrong with looking around and gathering information from different sources," she said. "My answer shared similarities with Google’s suggestion since I had done online research, gathered the information for myself, and I wanted to share it with others."

Hoa had also denied during the press conference following the contest’s final night rumors about the contest organizers having already chosen her as the winner even before the pageant.

"I believe you all have seen my efforts and my thorough preparations for the contest," she said. "And I believe you all see how I deserve the title."

Hoa, 25, is a model and businesswoman. She won the title of the 2022 Supermodel International contest and had competed in various beauty pageants before being crowned the 2023 Miss Universe Vietnam.