Mariángel Ruiz Torrealba (born 7 January 1980) is a Venezuelan actress, TV Host, fashion model and beauty pageant titleholder. Winning Miss Venezuela 2002 as Miss Aragua, she then placed 1st runner-up at Miss Universe 2003. Ruiz has been the most publicized Miss Venezuela in the 21st century, having been compared to compatriot and Miss Universe 1996 Alicia Machado in terms of buzz generated in her entire pageant career. Pageant career Miss Venezuela 2002 Ruiz actually tried twice for the Miss Venezuela title, the first time in 1998 when she did not even place into the top 120 candidates. In 2002, she won the preliminary casting in Maracay, becoming Miss Aragua 2002. For the national pageant, she was not a favorite and was predicted to place as finalist as best. Her most favorite years were Vanessa Fanesi (Yaracuy), Amara Barroeta (Distrito Capital), Solsiret Herrera (Monagas), and Driva Cedeño (Nueva Esparta), as well as Aida Yespica (Amazonas) and Maria Fernanda Leon (Portuguesa), the only candidates to ever compete twice in Miss Venezuela history (not including Miss Republica Bolivariana Venezuela 2000). Ruiz won the pageant in a shock outcome, which for the first time was judged entirely by former Miss Venezuela titleholders. Miss Universe 2003 After being crowned Miss Venezuela, Ruiz had to confront several obstacles before being able to represent her homeland in the Miss Universe pageant. First of all, was gaining Osmel Sousa's approval, who considered Ruiz to be "rebellious" and threatened to send Amara Barroeta, her first runner-up, to Miss Universe if she did not stop her weight gain and focus on her training. Soon after, a hugely publicized "crisis" emerged in which it was claimed that the Miss Venezuela Organization did not have enough hard currency, due to President Hugo Chavez's government imposition of foreign exchange controls that same year, to pay the franchise fee and send its delegate. At the same time, Sousa agreed to train Amelia Vega, Miss Dominican Republic, for a week in Caracas while Ruiz was placed on "standby". Venezuela's pending participation at Miss Universe 2003 attracted international news coverage. After weeks of negotiations, including an intervention by the President of Panama, the Cisneros Organization was able to fund Mariángel's travel and she arrived late at Miss Universe 2003, barely meeting the deadline to register. Her semifinal performance was met with mixed reviews, with some critics believing that she might be the first Miss Venezuela