in two decades to miss the semifinals (which would eventually happen the following year) and others predicting that her controversies would bring her the crown. On the final night of Miss Universe 2003, the announcers called out the wrong title when she appeared onstage: the order of the contestants was messed up backstage for the swimsuit contest and Ruiz appeared when Cindy Nell of South Africa should have come onstage. Co-host Daisy Fuentes then called South Africa twice, to which Ruiz made an infamous expression of confusion before taking the stage. The scoring was not affected and Daisy corrected herself as Ruiz left the stage. Later during the night gown competition, Ruiz broke two conventions. First, she wore her hair down and little makeup, against Sousa's suggestions, and second, she wore a skin-tight Angel Sanchez crimson gown, becoming the first Venezuelan Miss Universe contestant in a decade to not compete in a white, metallic, or light-toned dress. Defying Sousa's orders to undergo plastic surgery since her stint on the national pageant, Ruiz came off as one of the freshest Miss Universe contestants in history from Venezuela, setting the trend for future Miss Venezuela titleholders to oppose plastic surgery procedures during preparations before competing at Miss Universe. During the interviews, co-host Billy Bush asked Ruiz about her supposed favorite pastime, rappelling and extreme sports. Confusion among the producers rose, as Ruiz does not practice either, commenting instead that "I love my life and protect it 100%". Ruiz eventually placed runner-up to Amelia Vega of Dominican Republic at Miss Universe 2003. The Dominican Republic's victory in Miss Universe 2003 - the country's first ever national win in the competition - over Venezuela stirred controversy after infuriating television network executives of Venevision that not only the winner of the Miss Universe contest had been groomed by their company, their own national representative was on "standby" and came in second to her. As a result, the Miss Venezuela Organization imposed a still-standing ban on training other nations' contestants, ending its decades-long period of allowing foreign pageant candidates to train in the country. Work on TV Ruiz has appeared on several TV shows of Venevisión. Her main credits include: Bailando con las Estrellas (2005), as Contestant Portada's (2005–present), as Hostess Cosita Rica (2003), as Alegria Mendez Que Locura (2003), as Guest Hostess La viuda joven (2011) as Inmaculada Von Parker Corazón Esmeralda (2014) as Marina