MISS UNIVERSE 2011

Leila Lopes was born in Benguela, Angola. Her mother is from the Province of Benguela and her father was born in the Cuanza Sul Province. Lopes was a business management student in Great Britain, where she was crowned Miss Angola UK on October 8, 2010, as the official representative of the Angolan community in the United Kingdom to the Miss Angola 2011 event, which took place two months later in Luanda.

Miss Angola UK - she won this on October 8, 2010, gaining the right to take part in the Miss Angola 2011 elections, but the victory caused protests within the Angolan community in Britain, due to the fact that she was not a resident of the UK and thus, not eligible.

Miss Angola - held in Luanda on December 18, 2010, gaining the right to represent Angola in Miss Universe 2011. She also obtained the Photogenic Award during the contest.

Miss Universe 2011 - in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. She became the first Angolan Miss Universe and the 60th titleholder. Lopes received the title from the former Miss Universe titleholder, Ximena Navarrete of Mexico.Lopes is the fourth African to win the title since the beginning of the worldwide pageant (South Africa, 1978; Namibia, 1992; Botswana, 1999; and Angola, 2011) and the second African of African descent to win following Mpule Kwelagobe, Miss Universe 1999 from Botswana. Lopes also became the first woman from Angola to win a "Big four" beauty pageant, and the first black African woman to win Miss Universe in the new millenium.

The Argentinian newspaper Infobae published a report on September 17, 2011, alleging that Lopes was unfairly allowed to participate in the Miss Angola UK competition for Angolan citizens living in the UK, even though she has never lived outside of Angola.The new allegations arose claiming that her documents were falsified in order to show a legal residence status in the United Kingdom and win the qualifying Miss Angola UK contest. If proven true, she may lose her Miss Universe title. [10] The report claimed that a man named Charles Mukano, an Angolan promoter, helped falsify documents identifying her as a student of business management at a British school and may have even bribed judges in England to ensure Lopes’s win, enabling her to enter and win the contest.