No regrets over beauty pageants, says Miss Universe Vietnam

"If I had a chance to go back in time, I would still choose to attend beauty contests, even if that means I would not have enough time to complete my university studies," 29-year-old Chau told VnExpress. "I don’t know if that would be a right choice, but right now I haven't regretted competing in those pageants."

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Chau, the 2022 Miss Universe Vietnam. Photo from Chau's Instagram

When asked about the reasons why she was forced to stop her university studies, Chau cited a lack of time and considering her future career path to see if her university major fits her long-term goals, which made her come to a decision of registering for a college reservation process.

"It was partly my fault for not thoroughly researching [Vietnam’s] policies regarding college reservation procedures," she admitted. Consequently, after returning to Vietnam after the 2022 Miss Universe contest, Chau was notified that she was not qualified to complete her undergraduate course at Ton Duc Thang University after her credits expired, and would have to drop out.

Still, she agreed that having a university degree would help secure one’s career. After reconsidering her career development directions, she has applied to attend an undergraduate course majoring in communications and marketing.

"People say you can never be overeducated, and I believe in that as well, so having to stop one course doesn’t mean I will not attend any other course," she said.

Chau shared that there were several reasons behind her decision to publicly announce being discharged from the university.

"I hesitated over whether to confess, as I knew that my story could be controversial and the public could feel disappointed in me. Still, I eventually decided that being honest to the public is the only way for me to improve myself," she said.

Being open to her family members about her failure to fulfill her promise was another reason behind Chau’s confession.

Reflecting on the period of time since Chau’s coronation nearly one year ago, she shared that her financial situation has become better. Now she is able to financially support her family members without having to think twice.

"However, I have not been able to purchase a house or a car yet. The house I’m living in and the car I’m using were all given to me as part of the 2022 Miss Universe Vietnam prizes," she said.

In addition to those prizes, Chau said her coronation had also brought her a chance to be grateful for opportunities that had come to her, which helped her to explore and better understand herself, to show her values to her beloved and the community, and to use her influence to help people.

If there is anything for her to regret, she said it would be how she could have done more when she represented Vietnam in the 2022 Miss Universe contest.

As this year’s Miss Universe Vietnam is approaching, Chau said she was looking forward to meeting her successor, who would continue to prove Vietnamese women’s values.

Chau was born in Tay Ninh. In 2018, she was crowned the winner of Miss Supranational Vietnam. The following year, she won Miss Supranational Asia.

Chau’s victory in Miss Universe Vietnam 2022 gave her the right to participate in the 71st Miss Universe in the United States in January, but she did not make the top 16.