The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

MISS Bahamas Universe star Chantel O’Brian speaking to The Tribune from a plane last night on her return to Nassau said she believes her achievements at the competition were for a “purpose” and not mere luck.

 Chantel will be welcomed home with a motorcade planned for early this afternoon when Bahamians will take to the streets from the western end of the island, to the east.

 The beauty queen made history Sunday night when she placed in the top 10 at the coveted Miss Universe pageant, held this year in Eilat, Israel.

 Chantel not only placed in the top 10, but she also managed to walk away with the Spirit of Carnival Award which goes to contestants who display the values of Carnival Cruise lines – fun, friendship, diversity and inclusion.

 While en route home, the dedicated queen messaged The Tribune to say she feels blessed and that her success was not just luck.

 “I feel blessed!” she said. “I feel humbled! I definitely feel grateful because I know that it wasn’t by chance or by luck. I know that it was purpose and I was called to do this.

 “I am also grateful to know that there is so much support behind me by the Bahamian people and the government. So I am just thanking God for having gotten spared for this moment and I get to celebrate it with everybody. That makes me happy.”

 The motorcades route is as follows:

 Airport to downtown, by way of West Bay to Fox Hill, to Kemp Road to East Street, to Bain and Grants Town and finally to Fusion Superplex.

 Chantel is a Haitian-Bahamian. She is an etiquette coach and a beauty queen, having also served as Miss Bahamas World in 2015 and first runner-up in Miss Bahamas Universe in 2013.

 On December 19, 2015, she represented The Bahamas at Miss World 2015 and she competed against 149 other candidates in Sanya, China.

 She was employed by Aliv as a social media coordinator from December 2016 to December 2019.

  She was graduated from Edinburgh Napier University in November 2019, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in business enterprise.

 She became Miss Bahamas Universe on October 3 this year. She represented New Providence at that pageant and competed against three other finalists at the Grand Salon in Rosewood, Bahamas. At 27 years she was crowned Miss Universe Bahamas 2021.