EX-MISS ARGENTINA AND EX-MISS PUERTO RICO SECRETLY WED
A former Miss Argentina and an ex-Miss Puerto Rico who met at a beauty pageant revealed on Instagram that they had secretly married in San Juan. Mariana Varela and Fabiola Valentín, who had never confirmed they were a couple, held the wedding on October 28, 2022, and told the world two days later with a video.
Varela, then 26, was Miss Argentina 2020. Valentín, then 22, was Miss Puerto Rico 2020. NBC News reported the news on November 2, 2022.
The two met while representing their countries at the Miss Grand International pageant in Thailand, PAPER Magazine reported. Neither won the crown, but both made the top 10, according to NBC News.
After the pageant, Valentín posted a photo of the two women embracing. “One of the great gifts in this experience was your friendship, walking this process with you was a special and real one. I miss you, my girl @marianajvarela,” she wrote in the caption.
A wedding video after 18 months of hints
The announcement was a joint post on both of their accounts. “After deciding to keep our relationship private, we now open our doors to a special day,” they wrote, as translated by NBC News. The caption included the date 28/10/22 and a few heart and ring emojis.
The video was about 30 seconds long, CBS News reported. It cut together clips of the couple traveling, a candlelit proposal and a kiss outside a courthouse in San Juan.
The Los Angeles Times noted a few other touches. The proposal scene included a “Marry Me?” balloon message, and the phrase “te amo” was spelled out in rose petals on a hotel bed. PAPER said the brides wore coordinating white outfits for the courthouse kiss.
The Los Angeles Times also reported that both women posted an Instagram Stories photo of a mug reading “The best wife in the world.”
Anyone paying attention had been given clues. Over roughly 18 months, the pair posted a few photos together and traveled together, but they never said what they were, NBC News reported.
The pageant world weighed in
The video pulled in more than 116,000 likes and 2.6 million views on Instagram in three days, according to NBC News. The comments filled up with fans and fellow pageant queens.
Miss Grand International 2019 Valentina Figuera wrote, “Congratulations beauties, God bless your union and long live love!!!!” Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2017 Danna Hernández added, “Beautiful couple congratulations and blessings on your marriage!!!”
Abena Akuaba, who won the 2020 Miss Grand International title, commented, “Omg congratulations MGI brought together a beautiful union,” the Los Angeles Times reported. Alyssa Hunter, a RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant, also left a message, PAPER reported.
The couple answered the flood of messages in an Instagram Stories post. “How nice it is to read each message,” they wrote, in a translation by the Los Angeles Times.
Same-sex marriage became legal in Puerto Rico in 2015 after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, NBC News noted. It was also legal in Argentina, and it had become legal in every Mexican state the week before the story ran.
Varela spoke to the well-wishers directly, CNN reported. “Thanks for all the love! We are very happy and blessed. I wish you that the love you are giving us is multiplied! Endless thanks,” she said.
