Siera Bearchell did the unthinkable for the Miss Universe pageant--she gained weight. Body shamers were quick to point out her bigger body. But Miss Canada didn't kowtow. She took a bite out of fat shamers and proudly flaunted her weight gain. Because the pageant queen is delighted with her larger body size and unhappy about weight loss!
Miss Universe isn't like Miss Canada
Yes, the statuesque brunette agrees that she looks different in this competition than she has in the past. Online bullies had no qualms about throwing shade at her weight gain.
Some said that her curvier look would lose favor with the judges. Well, maybe with judges like Donald Trump, who famously fat-shamed Miss Universe Alicia Machado, she would. But this isn't 1996, and ladies now don't stand for any "Miss Piggy" lip like the new POTUS was so fond of giving. Contestants of today are more body confident, or at least they can learn from Siera Bearchell to be. The dancer is doing the beauty pageant a lot differently than pageants past. She's ditching the weight loss mindset of celebrities for real woman common sense.
Forget weight loss, Miss Universe
Siera Bearchell admits she isn't as thin as she was when she was younger. She isn't naturally lean, so to get the supermodel figure, she'd starve herself.
This anorexia diet weakened her mentally and physically. It made her susceptible to shame, paranoia, and body image issues. Factor in the constant comparison and fear of elimination, and Miss Canada became one hot mess. As bariatric surgery patients on "My 600-lb Life" will agree, restricting calories is stressful. Obesity is obviously unhealthy but so is the eating disorder on the other end of the spectrum.
Miss Universe hopeful pays it forward
So instead of dieting, Siera Bearchell focused on eating healthy and keeping fit. Instead of the celebrity perfect body mindset that drives folks even so far as plastic surgery, the pageant queen is about health, and doing good things for her body paid off in peace of mind. Miss Canada actually loves her body so much more now that she isn't killing herself to keep it skinny. But it's not just about her own body love--Siera wants to help other pageant contestants with body confidence. She hopes to revamp beauty pageant mentality going forward.
