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Miss Nepal, Jane Dipika Garrett, made history at 22 years old after becoming the first plus-size finalist at Miss Universe. The beauty queen secured a coveted spot in the top 20 list duringthe final night of the 72nd annual Miss Universe competition held in El Salvador.
While her selection as a finalist was filled with emotions, many people took to social media to express their dissatisfaction. Miss Nepal spoke with Fox News Digital about her journey of self-love and how she deals with body shaming.
“I really did not expect to get that much applause on the stage or that much spotlight,” she said, referring to the commotion she caused during the swimsuit competition. “And I wasn’t expecting anything. I was just there to represent my country and to represent women all over the world. And that was my goal,” she said.
“I came with a humble heart… but when I won on that stage, I got the loudest applause from the whole entire audience. And that felt so good because it was like a breakthrough moment for me and for society that they see something different, that they see real size beauty.”
Despite the positive vibes she felt while competing in El Salvador, she has noticed “cruel” messages. “I see things like, ‘Oh, she’s a whale,’ or ‘That’s disgusting. I’m going to vomit.’ Or like, ‘She’s promoting obesity.’ ‘Why don’t you go to the gym?’ And things like that,” Garrett said. “And it’s like they don’t even know my story. They don’t even know what I’m going through.”
According to Garrett, she suffers from polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS. This condition causes the ovaries to produce more androgens, which are male hormones and can cause various symptoms such as weight gain, irregular periods, acne, and excessive hair growth.
“So it’s very easy for us to gain weight. Even if we just look at a piece of cake, we can gain weight,” she said. “[The haters are] just judging me from social media. And that’s their problem. I don’t let it bother me… Society can be very cruel. People can be very cruel sometimes.”
“Recently, I’ve gained a lot of weight because of my hormonal issues. And that’s also really taken a toll on my mental health and my self-esteem because I thought that I wasn’t good enough or that I wasn’t beautiful enough. But I really had to get the validation for myself and learn how to have a positive mindset and to love myself despite not feeling my best self,” she said. “It’s about being confident in your own skin and accepting who you are, where you are at. So I had to really remove all of those messages that were coming from society as well as coming from my own mind. So I had to really brainwash myself again and accept who I am and love myself.”
Despite the challenges, Miss Nepal is embracing a rigorous lifestyle to fight back PCOS. “I try to have a very low-stress lifestyle. I try to meditate, I do affirmations, I work on my mental health, I work, I eat healthy, I eat a pretty balanced diet. That is what works for me,” she said.
“You don’t have to do something like what a celebrity does or that a model does to be considered beautiful. I think that what’s most important for you, whatever suits you, is what is beautiful for you. And then I think that’s so important to just embrace who you are and love who you are and not try to fit into what society says is beautiful,” Garrett added.