It was a surreal evening in Windsor, Ont., as Lethbridge’s Jamie VandenBerg was topped Miss Universe Canada 2025.
The 28-year-old worldwide mannequin and actress will symbolize Canada on the Miss Universe competitors in Thailand this November.
“Once you expertise issues which might be so surreal, it doesn’t matter if it’s good or unhealthy, your physique goes again into that battle, flight or freeze generally. For me, it simply places me again into this field of, ‘Oh, it’s so unimaginable that it may well’t be actual,’” she mentioned.
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VandenBerg’s crown was positioned by Ashley Callingbull, the primary Indigenous Miss Canada and a longtime pageant icon. Having admired Callingbull for years, VandenBerg says the second felt like a dream.
Her journey to the crown started greater than a decade in the past and included years of coaching, competing, and fundraising.
Behind the glamour is a survivor’s story. Whereas modelling overseas, VandenBerg narrowly escaped a violent abduction and point-blank capturing a second that modified her perspective endlessly.
“If I’ve one final determination in my life to make, I’m going to make it defending my very own autonomy… I’ll by no means have the correct quantity of phrases to inform any individual, ‘Thanks for saving my life,’” she mentioned.
Now, she’s utilizing her platform to advocate for gender-based violence prevention and to encourage others to beat life’s obstacles.
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