Journalist and former Miss SA Margaret Gardiner was the first South African to be crowned Miss Universe. Here’s a look at where she is now.

 
WHO IS MARGARET GARDINER?
Margaret Gardiner is a South African journalist and beauty queen, who was crowned Miss Republic of South Africa in 1978. That same year she was crowned Miss Universe, making her the first South African to become Miss Universe. She was just 18 years old at the time.

The beauty queen was crowned Miss Universe by Janelle Commissiong – the first black titleholder of the pageant. She was also the ONLY South African titleholder of Miss Universe for 39 years before Demi Leigh Tebow took the title in 2017.

This year Miss SA runner up Bryoni Govender will be representing South Africa at the Miss Universe pageant held in El Salvador in November.

WHERE IS MISS UNIVERSE 1978 NOW?
The iconic beauty queen was born in Cape Town. She is now around 63 years old. Following her reign, Margaret did some travelling and graduated with a BA in psychology from the College of Charleston. She is the author of two books and worked as a journalist in the entertainment industry, according to Briefly.

So, where is she now? The journalist now lives in Los Angeles. She is also a fashion editor at the Golden Globes. She is married to Andre Nel, a professor of paediatrics and public health at UCLA.

The beauty queen recently took to Instagram to show Miss SA 2015 Liesl Laurie some love after she opened up about anxiety. Take a look…