It was wearing a sheath dress with a pink train that the young girl received the Belgian tricolor scarf and the crown which characterize the title of Miss Belgium. “I don’t realize yet. I have this crown on my head but I still don’t really realize,” she said.
“Thank you all for the votes and support. I will not disappoint you, I will really do my best”, promised the young girl, while also thanking her family. “My mom signed me up for the competition, but she died a year ago of cancer. She was the one who formed me to what I am now and I can only thank her for it”, then confided the Miss.
Originally from Elewijt in Flemish Brabant, Miss Belgium 2023 is a student in occupational therapy and speaks Dutch and French. She is followed by 550,000 people on the social network TikTok and is a fan of Latin dance, the presenters of the gala evening further specified.
Emilie Vansteenkiste was selected from 32 candidates (13 French-speaking and 19 Dutch-speaking). His runners-up are Claire Lansenebre, from West Flanders (Knokke-Heist), Victoria Kembukuswa from Walloon Brabant (Waterloo) and Cécile Deltour from the province of Liège (Dison).
The organization of the final had been disrupted by the evening arrest of a man near the scene. A suspect, aged about 40 and from Lommel, had a weapon in his possession and a second discovered in his vehicle. The federal prosecutor’s office considered that an attack could have been avoided. The ceremony was therefore able to take place as planned but with a little delay.
“Even the throne has been searched”
The president of the National Miss Belgium committee, Darline Devos, says she is satisfied with the gala organized, despite the threat of an attack, foiled, which delayed the event.
In the early evening, it looked like the ceremony would not take place, as the Plopsaland venue in De Panne had been evacuated due to the threat. In the end, with an attack averted and an armed suspect arrested by the police, the show was able to go ahead as planned. .
As a security measure, the room and backstage were indeed completely searched by sniffer dogs. The procedure caused a delay on the program of the ceremony. “At first we weren’t sure what was going on. Eventually we were made aware and there was talk of canceling the show. I didn’t want to come to that, but we also wanted to that everything is safe”, further details Ms. Devos.
“That’s why we let the sniffer dogs check every corner of the room, even the seat of Miss Belgium was searched”, testifies the organizer.
But the president is still satisfied with the course of the ceremony. “Everyone performed very well despite this pressure. I saw no mistakes. The finalists were brilliant and I am very proud of them”, concludes Ms. Devos.