Olivia Pinheiro
Encyclopedia
María Olivia Pinheiro Menacho (born October 29, 1983) is a Bolivian
beauty pageant titleholder and model who was crowned Miss Bolivia 2010
, and would have represented her country
in the 2011 Miss Universe
pageant. Pinheiro declined to participate in the international competition after rumors about her real age were revealed to the press.
, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
, to a Brazilian father – hence her fluent Portuguese
– and a Bolivian mother (namely José Carlos Pinheiro and Cotty Menacho), Pinheiro started her pageant career in 1999 when, after just turning 16 years old, she represented her country
at Miss Model of the World
in Turkey
and then a year later participated in Queen of the World 2000 in Germany
, placing among the Top 10 semifinalists. It's then when Promociones Gloria, organizers of Miss Bolivia
, named her Modelo Revelación 2000.
A year later, Pinheiro participated and became one of the favorites at International Queen of Flowers 2001 in Colombia
, a pageant that was eventually won by Lilián Villanueva
of Mexico
. In 2002, she participated in her fourth international competition, Miss Intercontinental
in Germany
and a year later, represented Bolivia in her fifth contest, International Female Model 2003 in Aruba
.
She's also worked as a model in her native Bolivia for the past decade and has been elected Queen of Comparsa
at Santa Cruz de la Sierra
's carnival
celebrations twice: at age 16 as Queen of Chirapas Jrs. 2000 and at age 20 as Queen of Tremendazos 2004.
against 18 other delegates in her country's national pageant, Miss Bolivia
, held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra
on August 26, 2010, where she became the eventual winner of the title and was crowned by outgoing titleholder Claudia Arce, gaining the right to represent Bolivia
in the 2011 Miss Universe
pageant, to be broadcast live from São Paulo
, Brazil
on September 12, 2011.. However, Olivia Pinheiro lied about her age, stating she was 24 years old. Journalist, Carlos Valverde, got hold of her original and fake birth certificates. In January 2011, Olivia Pinheiro declined her participation in Miss Universe 2011 due "to personal reasons", however she never answered to questions relating to her real age . Promociones Gloria, owner of Miss Universe franchise in Bolivia, announced that the winner of Miss Bolivia 2011 would participate in Miss Universe 2011. Notwithstanding, in June 2011, Olivia Pinheiro and Promociones Gloria announced that Olivia would remain the Bolivian representative to Miss Universe 2011.
, Pinheiro represented her country
in Reina Hispanoamericana 2010
held in her native Santa Cruz de la Sierra
on November 24, 2010, where she obtained the Photogenic and Best Hair awards, placing third overall.
"for personal reasons", after persistent rumors about her real age. Miss Universe contestants must be at least 18 years old and under 27 years of age by February 1st in the year they participate. Pinheiro apparently turned 27 in October 2010 and would be ineligible to compete.
Gloria Suárez de Limpias, president of Promociones Gloria and organizer of Miss Bolivia
, announced Pinheiro remains Miss Bolivia 2010 and will crown her successor in June 2011. As a result of the controversy, Bolivia's representative to the Miss Universe
pageant will be the winner of Miss Bolivia 2011.
Demographics of Bolivia
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Bolivia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
beauty pageant titleholder and model who was crowned Miss Bolivia 2010
Miss Bolivia
Miss Bolivia is an annual Bolivian beauty pageant responsible for selecting the country's representative to the Miss Universe pageant since 1959. Runner-up goes to Miss World.The current titleholder is Yessica Mouton Gianella from Señorita Litoral...
, and would have represented her country
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
in the 2011 Miss Universe
Miss Universe 2011
Miss Universe 2011, the 60th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, was held at the Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. Ximena Navarrete of Mexico crowned her successor, Leila Lopes of Angola, at the end of this event...
pageant. Pinheiro declined to participate in the international competition after rumors about her real age were revealed to the press.
Early life
Born in Andrés IbáñezAndrés Ibáñez Province
Andrés Ibáñez Province is one of the fifteen provinces of the Bolivian Santa Cruz Department, situated in the western part of the department. Its capital is Santa Cruz de la Sierra which is also the capital of the department....
, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, to a Brazilian father – hence her fluent Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
– and a Bolivian mother (namely José Carlos Pinheiro and Cotty Menacho), Pinheiro started her pageant career in 1999 when, after just turning 16 years old, she represented her country
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
at Miss Model of the World
Miss Model of the world
Miss Model of the World is an international beauty contest organized for the first time in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1988 with 42 countries participating.-List of titleholders and runners-up:-External links:*...
in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and then a year later participated in Queen of the World 2000 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, placing among the Top 10 semifinalists. It's then when Promociones Gloria, organizers of Miss Bolivia
Miss Bolivia
Miss Bolivia is an annual Bolivian beauty pageant responsible for selecting the country's representative to the Miss Universe pageant since 1959. Runner-up goes to Miss World.The current titleholder is Yessica Mouton Gianella from Señorita Litoral...
, named her Modelo Revelación 2000.
A year later, Pinheiro participated and became one of the favorites at International Queen of Flowers 2001 in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, a pageant that was eventually won by Lilián Villanueva
Lilián Villanueva
Lilián Jesús Villanueva Chan is a Mexican model who became the only woman from her country to be crowned International Queen of Flowers and competed in Nuestra Belleza México 2000, obtaining the title of Nuestra Belleza Internacional México....
of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. In 2002, she participated in her fourth international competition, Miss Intercontinental
Miss Intercontinental Pageant
Miss Intercontinental is an annual international beauty contest run by the World Beauty Organization that is located in "Panama City, Panama". The contest was founded in 1973, in Aruba. The current Miss Intercontinental is Jessica Hartman, from United States...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and a year later, represented Bolivia in her fifth contest, International Female Model 2003 in Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
.
She's also worked as a model in her native Bolivia for the past decade and has been elected Queen of Comparsa
Comparsa
A comparsa is the band which plays a conga during a Latin American Carnival celebration. It consists of a large group of dancers dancing and traveling on the streets, followed by a Carrosa where the musicians play...
at Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...
's carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
celebrations twice: at age 16 as Queen of Chirapas Jrs. 2000 and at age 20 as Queen of Tremendazos 2004.
Miss Bolivia
Pinheiro, who stands tall, competed as Miss Santa CruzSanta Cruz Department
Santa Cruz, with an area of 370,621 km², is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia. In the 2001 census, it reported a population of 2,029,471. The capital is the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The state is one of the wealthiest states in Bolivia with huge reserves of...
against 18 other delegates in her country's national pageant, Miss Bolivia
Miss Bolivia
Miss Bolivia is an annual Bolivian beauty pageant responsible for selecting the country's representative to the Miss Universe pageant since 1959. Runner-up goes to Miss World.The current titleholder is Yessica Mouton Gianella from Señorita Litoral...
, held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...
on August 26, 2010, where she became the eventual winner of the title and was crowned by outgoing titleholder Claudia Arce, gaining the right to represent Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
in the 2011 Miss Universe
Miss Universe 2011
Miss Universe 2011, the 60th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, was held at the Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. Ximena Navarrete of Mexico crowned her successor, Leila Lopes of Angola, at the end of this event...
pageant, to be broadcast live from São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
on September 12, 2011.. However, Olivia Pinheiro lied about her age, stating she was 24 years old. Journalist, Carlos Valverde, got hold of her original and fake birth certificates. In January 2011, Olivia Pinheiro declined her participation in Miss Universe 2011 due "to personal reasons", however she never answered to questions relating to her real age . Promociones Gloria, owner of Miss Universe franchise in Bolivia, announced that the winner of Miss Bolivia 2011 would participate in Miss Universe 2011. Notwithstanding, in June 2011, Olivia Pinheiro and Promociones Gloria announced that Olivia would remain the Bolivian representative to Miss Universe 2011.
Reina Hispanoamericana 2010
After winning Miss BoliviaMiss Bolivia
Miss Bolivia is an annual Bolivian beauty pageant responsible for selecting the country's representative to the Miss Universe pageant since 1959. Runner-up goes to Miss World.The current titleholder is Yessica Mouton Gianella from Señorita Litoral...
, Pinheiro represented her country
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
in Reina Hispanoamericana 2010
Reina Hispanoamericana 2010
Reina Hispanoamericana 2010, the 20th Reina Hispanoamericana beauty pageant, was held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia on November 24, 2010. Twenty-two delegates from the Americas and the Iberian peninsula competed for the title....
held in her native Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...
on November 24, 2010, where she obtained the Photogenic and Best Hair awards, placing third overall.
Withdrawal from Miss Universe 2011
On January 27, 2011, Pinheiro said she wouldn't participate in Miss Universe 2011Miss Universe 2011
Miss Universe 2011, the 60th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, was held at the Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. Ximena Navarrete of Mexico crowned her successor, Leila Lopes of Angola, at the end of this event...
"for personal reasons", after persistent rumors about her real age. Miss Universe contestants must be at least 18 years old and under 27 years of age by February 1st in the year they participate. Pinheiro apparently turned 27 in October 2010 and would be ineligible to compete.
Gloria Suárez de Limpias, president of Promociones Gloria and organizer of Miss Bolivia
Miss Bolivia
Miss Bolivia is an annual Bolivian beauty pageant responsible for selecting the country's representative to the Miss Universe pageant since 1959. Runner-up goes to Miss World.The current titleholder is Yessica Mouton Gianella from Señorita Litoral...
, announced Pinheiro remains Miss Bolivia 2010 and will crown her successor in June 2011. As a result of the controversy, Bolivia's representative to the Miss Universe
Miss Universe 2011
Miss Universe 2011, the 60th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, was held at the Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. Ximena Navarrete of Mexico crowned her successor, Leila Lopes of Angola, at the end of this event...
pageant will be the winner of Miss Bolivia 2011.