Miss Universe Runner-up Chidimma Bids Farewell to Pageantry

Miss Universe Nigeria 2024, Chidimma Adetshina, has announced her permanent retirement from beauty pageants following her historic first runner-up finish at the Miss Universe competition in Mexico City, describing her experience as “traumatic.”

“I am putting pageant to bed right now,” the 23-year-old told BBC upon her return to Nigeria, expressing her desire to focus on education, runway modeling, and acting. In a separate video, Adetshina emphasized the finality of her decision: “I feel like I did my best. I made myself proud. I made Nigeria proud, and I really outdid myself. I don’t think there’s anything more that I could do.”

Her journey to the Miss Universe stage faced early challenges, including a withdrawal from the Miss South Africa 2024 pageant amid controversy over her nationality. Despite these setbacks, Adetshina’s performance at the global competition, where Denmark’s Victoria Kjaer Theilvig claimed the crown, has earned her widespread acclaim and inspired pride across the African continent.

While expressing gratitude to Silverbird Group, Chichi Nation, and her supporters, Adetshina acknowledged the personal toll of her pageant career: “It was really a traumatic experience for me, and I don’t think that I would like to revisit this again… It’s just something I’m going to have to put behind me, but it’s also going to be something I hold in my heart.”