USA took home the Miss Universe 2022 title after R'Bonney Gabriel was crowned by her predecessor, Harnaaz Sandhu of India, at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in Louisiana, United States, January 15.

Gabriel, 28, is the ninth Miss Universe titlist from USA, blocking Venezuela's chance to keep up on the tally of most number of Miss Universe winners. Incidentally, the Latin American country's representative, Amanda Dudamel, finished second.

It has been days since the Miss Universe 2022 coronation night, but the fever is still on, partly because some fans still scream "rigged" or "unfair." Is it?

In Latin Post's exclusive interview with Emily Austin, one of the judges for both preliminary and finals night, she sets the record straight, once and for all.

How Miss Universe 2022 Top 16 Semifinalists Were Selected

Arguably, many were surprised when the Top 16 semifinalists were announced. Some "powerhouse countries" who both pageant analysts and fans expected to make the cut were not called. Consequently, dark horse representatives took their place instead.

Per Emily Austin, it was one heck of a rigorous process to select just 16 women when each of the 84 candidates has her own message to share and purpose to advocate.

"I don't know with the other judges because we don't talk to each other really, just to keep it straight. After the interview, I'd give them 7.7, 8, 9, 10. And I said, 'Okay. Whoever is a 10 out of 10, they're gonna go on. Whoever I gave in the 9s, I'm gonna look back later and I'm gonna decide, do I want them to continue or move back. But they told us only choose 10 women to go on from the interviews. So when I was done circling who got my 10, I have 15 women that were 10 out of 10. How do I cut out 5 of these people if they were all perfect,'" Austin shared.  "That was really hard for me to do. But I sat there all night, and I was thinking and looking back at the photos, I was looking at my notes, rewatching the interviews, and I was like, 'I have to do this.'"

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But the interview was only half of it. The other 50% of the ladies' scores was determined during the preliminary competition, where the candidates flaunted their swimsuit and evening gown. Austin said, the scoring was not about the swimsuit or gown per se, but how well the girls carried them. Moreover, the sash they were wearing had no bearing on how they will be judged.

"We looked at the women and how confident they were. And obviously, we know, every year, there are these people that make it in, but honestly, we really don't care. We just really choose who's the best. We don't look at anything besides how well we think this woman will be able to handle the pressure of Miss Universe, be a good example for the universe, be a good example for women, be a good example for the society, and that's all we really looked at," she revealed.

Top 16 to Top 5: A Tough Job to Accomplish

Puerto Rico, Haiti, Australia, Dominican Republic, Laos, South Africa, Portugal, Canada, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, India, Venezuela, Spain, Curacao, USA, and Colombia advanced to the competition. But unlike in the past years when Top 10 would be selected first, only five of them will make it to the next round.

For Emily Austin, trimming the semifinalists to less than one-third was the hardest part - and as she admits, she was as shocked as the fans when the Top 5 were announced.

"I can't tell you that I wasn't surprised. There were 7 judges for the finals. When I'm looking around, and I'm like, 'Oh my God, my girl didn't make it.' Like, I was so surprised, too, and people are acting like we cheated," Austin said. "I have two women, in particular, I'm not gonna say their names, that I really wanted to be Top 5, and they were not... and I was shocked. I was like, 'How? They were perfect.' But everyone has different set of eyes."

Venezuela, USA, Puerto Rico, Curacao, and Dominican Republic were selected to advance to the first question-and-answer portion of the night.

Judges Did Not Know Who Won Until Miss Universe 2022 Was Crowned

Dominican Republic, USA, and Venezuela were named Top 3 and would go answer the final question: "If you win Miss Universe, how would you work to demonstrate this as an empowering and progressive organization?"

The candidates gave the judges a run for their money as each of them gave a powerful answer.

What most people did not know was that even the judges had no idea who won until the announcement.

"And what's even better is from Top 5, we go to Top 3, and then we don't know who won until she's crowned. And I don't know who the other judges are voting for. So when I had my Top 3, we put them in order: 1, 2, 3. So I put my 1, 2, 3, and I can't see anyone else's screen. And I'm like, 'Oh my God, who won?' So the person that won might not necessarily have been the person I have put first," Emily Austin disclosed.

Miss Universe 2022: Not Rigged, No Cheating

Once and for all, Emily Austin wanted to pacify still angry fans and assure everyone that the whole process of selecting Miss Universe is not rigged.

"Guys, hear it from the judge. It is so fair. There is no cheating whatsoever. The CEO did not care who we voted for. The president didn't care. The manager didn't care. Nobody cared. It was fully up to us. They chose us because they trusted our opinion," Austin said.

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