Patricia Yurena Rodríguez Alonso (born 6 March 1990) is a Spanish model, actress, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Spain 2008 Miss Spain (Spanish: Miss España) is a national beauty pageant in Spain that selects Spanish representatives to compete in three of the big four major international beauty pageants: the Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International compet ...

and then Miss Universe Spain 2013. She represented Spain at

Miss World 2008 Miss World 2008, the 58th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 13 December 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. Originally, the pageant was going to take place in Kyiv, Ukraine, but because of the ong ...

, where she placed in the top fifteen, and at

Miss Universe 2013 Miss Universe 2013 was the 62nd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow, Russia on November 9, 2013. At the end of the event, Olivia Culpo of the United States crowned Gabriela Isler of Venezuela as Miss Uni ...

, where she was the first runner-up, becoming the highest-placing Spanish delegate since

Teresa Sánchez López Teresa Sánchez (born July 1, 1964 in Seville) is a Spanish model, who won the title of Miss National in the Miss Spain contest at 1984 and represented Spain at Miss Universe 1985 where she finished as 1st Runner-Up. Biography Sánchez López ...

was first runner-up at

Miss Universe 1985 Miss Universe 1985, the 34th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 15 July 1985 at the James L. Knight Convention Center in Miami, Florida, United States. Seventy-nine contestants competed in the pageant. Deborah Carthy-Deu of Puerto Rico was crown ...

, and after

Amparo Muñoz Amparo Muñoz Quesada ( Vélez-Málaga, 21 June 1954 – Málaga, 27 February 2011) was a Spanish actress, model and beauty queen who won the Miss Universe 1974 competition in Manila, Philippines, being the first and only Spaniard titleholder ...

won the title in 1974. In August 2014, during the end of her reign as Miss Universe Spain, Rodríguez revealed she was in a relationship with a woman through her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, becoming the first out

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

woman to hold a major national pageant title. Although she was not out while competing, Rodríguez became the second competitor in a major international beauty pageant to come out as LGBT, following

Julia Lemigova Julia Lemigova, born Yulia Andreevna Lemigova (russian: Юлия Андреевна Лемигова; born 26 June 1972) is a Russian former model who was Miss USSR 1990, and is married to Martina Navratilova. She is a cast member of the Bravo r ...

, who represented the Soviet Union at

Miss Universe 1991 Miss Universe 1991, the 40th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, was held on May 17, 1991 at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Lupita Jones of Mexico crowned by Mona Grudt of Norway. Seventy ...

. In February 2021, Rodríguez confirmed her pansexuality and that she was currently in a relationship with a man, saying that "love does not understand gender".

Early life

Rodríguez was born in

Granadilla de Abona Granadilla de Abona is a municipality of Tenerife, located in the south of the island, occupying an area of 155 square kilometers. Its population in 2013 was 43,608. In recent years, the population has greatly increased due to an influx of immig ...

on the island of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

within the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

of Spain. She began modeling professionally as a teenager.

Pageantry

Miss Spain 2008

In March 2008, Rodríguez represented Tenerife at

. She advanced from the initial group of 52 entrants to the top twenty, then top twelve, and ultimately the top six. After entering the top six, Rodríguez went on to win the title. As Miss Spain, Rodríguez was to represent Spain at

Miss Universe 2008 Miss Universe 2008 was the 57th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Crown Convention Center in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008. This was the first time that the Miss Universe pageant was broadcast in 1080i High-definition. At the end of t ...

; however, Miss Universe rules stipulated that all entrants must have turned 18 by 1 February of the year of the contest, while Rodríguez had only turned 18 that March. After being declared illegible due to her age, Rodríguez was selected to compete at

instead, while her first runner-up

Claudia Moro Claudia Moro Fernández (born November 10, 1985, in Santiago de Compostela) is a Spanish model and beauty pageant titleholder who competed in the 2008 Miss Universe pageant, placing seventh overall. Miss Spain She represented Madrid at Miss Sp ...

was selected to represent Spain at Miss Universe. Later that year, Rodríguez arrived in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

to represent Spain at Miss World 2008. Of the initial 109 delegates, she advanced to the top fifteen, but did not make it to the top five.

Ksenia Sukhinova Ksenia Vladimirovna Sukhinova (russian: Ксе́ния Влади́мировна Сухи́нова; born 26 August 1987) is a Russian model, television host and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 2008. She was the second Russian woman to ...

of Russia was ultimately crowned the winner.

Miss Universe Spain 2013

The Miss Spain Organization held the Spanish license for Miss Universe, so for years Rodríguez was ineligible to compete again in the hope of representing Spain at Miss Universe. However, in 2013, the organization was split into two separate organizations: Miss World Spain and Miss Universe Spain. Rodríguez was selected as one of the twelve delegates at the inaugural Miss Universe Spain 2013 competition, held in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. She advanced to the top six, where she ultimately was crowned the winner. As Miss Universe Spain, Rodríguez was given the right to represent Spain at the

competition in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. She went on to receive immense success at Miss Universe, advancing from the initial 86 delegates to the top sixteen, top ten, top five, and ultimately placed as the first runner-up behind

Gabriela Isler María Gabriela de Jesús Isler Morales (born 21 March 1988) is a Venezuelan TV host, fashion model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2013, gaining placement as the seventh Miss Universe of her country. Isler is the founder of '' ...

of Venezuela. This was the best result Spain had received in the competition since

was 1st Runner-Up at

Miss Universe 2013

Rodríguez represented

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 9 November 2013, finishing as 1st runner-up to María Gabriela Isler of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, her roommate during the competition. She is the second Spanish woman to place 1st runner-up in the Miss Universe competition (the first one was

in 1985). She is also only one of seven former Miss World semifinalists to place in the Miss Universe semifinals, the others being

Michelle McLean Michelle McLean (born 31 July 1972) is a Namibian actress, writer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1992 at Thailand. McLean was 19 years old when she was crowned Miss Universe, and became the first Namibian woman to win th ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

in 1992, Christine Straw of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

in 2004,

Ada de la Cruz Ada Aimée De La Cruz Ramírez (born June 15, 1986, in Villa Mella) is a Dominican model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Dominican Republic 2009 and placed 1st Runner-Up at Miss Universe 2009. Biography her first came to fame as Miss Domi ...

of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

in 2009, Yendi Phillips also of

in 2010,

Catriona Gray Catriona Elisa Magnayon Gray (; born 6 January 1994) is a Filipino-Australian model, singer, beauty queen, television personality, youth advocate and arts ambassador best known for having been crowned Miss Universe 2018. She is the fourth Fi ...

of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 2018,

Julia Gama Julia Weissheimer Werlang Gama (born 18 May 1993) is a Brazilian model and a beauty pageant titleholder who was appointed Miss Brasil 2020. She represented Brazil at the Miss Universe 2020 pageant, finishing as the 1st Runner-Up. Pageantry M ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, and

Andrea Meza Alma Andrea Meza Carmona (born 13 August 1994) is a Mexican model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe 2020. Since winning the title, she became the third Mexican woman to be crowned Miss Universe. Meza holds the record ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(coincidentally Rodriguez, de la Cruz, Phillips, and Gama all finished as 1st Runner-Up).

Personal life

In August 2014, Rodríguez publicized her romantic relationship with Spanish DJ Vanesa Klein through her

account. This revelation sparked international headlines referring to Rodríguez as a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, with Rodríguez becoming the first major national pageant titleholder to be out as LGBT, and the second woman out as LGBT to have competed in one of the major international beauty pageants, following

, who represented the Soviet Union at

. In February 2021, Rodríguez said that she was in a relationship with a man, saying that "love does not understand gender", confirming her pansexuality.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Official Miss España website - Past titleholders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Patricia 1990 births 21st-century Spanish actresses Spanish LGBT actors Spanish LGBT models Living people Miss Spain winners Miss Universe 2013 contestants Miss World 2008 delegates Pansexual actresses People from Tenerife Spanish beauty pageant winners Spanish female models Spanish film actresses LGBT beauty pageant winners