It’s not former asylum seeker Alina Samander, inland shipping sailor Sam Rovers, or 30kg weight loss winner Eileen Van Loek, who won the Antwerp title, but favorite Chiara Catanzaro. First Lady of Honor was Helena Degendt, hairdresser from Bonheden, second lady of honor Cheyenne van Arle, half Dutch air hostess from Antwerp.
From left: Helena Degendt, Chiara Catanzaro, Cheyenne Van Arles. – © Kevin Swigson
Among the entire pool of two hundred regional nominees, Catanzaro was one of the girls with the most theater and modeling experience and that obviously didn’t escape the jury. “I’ve been dancing since I was three. It was a way to get rid of my shyness and so I quickly ended up in all kinds of TV productions. They were lately #Like me, The Golden K . party employment belgian talent And the video clip fighter From Reggie and Camille.”
“Dancing has always been my passion, but I felt I needed to gain more confidence, and when I was 17, I entered Top Model Belgium, an international modeling competition that was finally held in Paris. This victory gave me a nice trip to the Dominican Republic and to take some pictures. But a real breakthrough was not achieved.
Miss Antwerp nominees. – © Kevin Swigson
“I was often told that I was too short to be 1.70 meters. This is not exceptionally small, but it is clearly for a model, but who knows maybe he could be as perfect as Miss? After all, I wanted to participate in the Miss Belgium contest for several years, but I doubted whether I was mature enough for that. I finally made the move this year and it looks like it was the right choice.”
Miss Charity and Miss Public
Catanzaro, who has an Italian father and a Portuguese mother, immediately made a great impression in the Antwerp delegation, which was the largest in the country with twenty girls. For example, Chiara won not only the title of Miss Antwerp, but also the titles of the “chocolate” side of Miss Charity and Miss Public. “Good for self-confidence, now I can do everything I can for the grand final of course. I think every girl who passes right now is already dreaming of the national crown.”
© Jan van der Berry
The Business and Languages student can explain it very well in at least six languages and you can still find it in her spare time at L’Officina, her father’s restaurant in Eilandje.
It now appears to be business as usual for the Miss Belgium Committee. For Regional Election Day with about five hundred spectators, the Covid Safe Ticket or test at the door was used. “It was also the first time we had all the regional finals in one place because the Covid script had been up for some time,” says organizer Darlene de Vos.
Six national crowns
In the coming weeks, the pace of the activities of the remaining 80 candidates will increase. The intent is to conduct a national pre-selection this year, select 32 finalists and then select the Kedist Deltour’s successor in March – two months later than usual.
Only then will we know if Antwerp can win a sixth national title in nine years. With Annelies Törös, Lenty Frans, Angeline Flor Pua, Elena Castro Suarez and Celine Van Ouytsel, our province has almost become a Miss Belgium purveyor and experts predict Catanzaro can also go far thanks to her unconditional commitment.
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