Miss South Africa 2017 Nel-Peters represented
Western Cape in the
Miss South Africa 2017 competition on 26 March 2017, which she won. As Miss South Africa, she had the right to represent South Africa in both
Miss World 2017 and
Miss Universe 2017, but since the dates of the two pageants coincided, she was sent only to Miss Universe, held in
Las Vegas, Nevada.
Miss Universe 2017 In the final round
Steve Harvey asked Nel-Peters, "What quality in yourself are you most proud of and how will you apply that quality to your time as Miss Universe?" She said: When asked about what she thought was the most important issue regarding women in the workplace, she said: She went on to win the competition and was crowned Miss Universe 2017 by outgoing titleholder
Iris Mittenaere. Nel-Peters is the second titleholder from South Africa;
Margaret Gardiner won
Miss Universe 1978. Nel-Peters said during a segment at Miss Universe that she wants to use her
self-defence workshops to help as many women as she can. This stems from an incident a month after she was crowned Miss South Africa, when she was
carjacked at
Hyde Park. She handed over her car keys but was forced into her car by the carjackers. She punched one of them in the throat and managed to run away and get help. In her capacity as Miss Universe, Nel-Peters visited the
Philippines (twice),
Indonesia (twice),
Thailand (twice),
France,
Mexico (twice),
Ecuador,
India,
Lebanon,
Egypt,
Malaysia, various cities in the
United States, and her home country,
South Africa. Nel-Peters ended her reign on 17 December 2018 in
Bangkok,
Thailand, the host nation of the 67th Miss Universe pageant. She eventually crowned
Catriona Gray of the
Philippines as her successor. ==Personal life==