Miss Universe Mexico 2026 María Vargas on the long road to her crown: ‘I am living my dream’

I am honestly very happy. I think it is a blessing. I am a fortunate woman to be able to fulfill my dreams and to be here with you. Thank you for the interview and for giving me this space.

Before hearing my name, I was really nervous. I think it is almost a moment of anxiety when you stop feeling certain parts of your body. I could not feel my legs anymore. I was already so tired. And then, when I finally heard, “María Vargas is the new Miss Universe Mexico,” so many pieces of my life came to mind, moments when I felt tired, when I wanted to throw in the towel, when I thought I could not keep going.

Immediately, it was like this boost of energy went through my body. It was a feeling of peace, but at the same time, energy about what was coming next, excitement. All of that exhaustion turned into energy. I actually could not sleep well that night because I was so excited. I had already been exhausted for weeks, and I kept saying, “As soon as I hit the bed, I am going to pass out.” But no. I think sometimes fulfilling your dreams changes your life forever, not because of what happens around you, but because of what happens inside you.

Previously, I had participated under another organization, and it was a little difficult. Sometimes being yourself can be somewhat disruptive. I am a woman who sets boundaries. I am a woman who always speaks up and always asks questions. I do not think people are always ready for you to ask questions, challenge things or set boundaries around what you think or believe.

That had caused quite a few problems for me. I even had doors closed to me at other organizations. People told me things like, “You are not docile,” “Women like you do not win,” and “Women like you are confrontational.” So now, with my current organization, I almost feel a little strange. The very things someone else criticized you for can be the things that make someone else open the door for you. It is disruptive. It is interesting. I still do not think I am used to the feeling of being so completely myself in such a unique and welcoming space. I have a great relationship with my organization.

I feel that I am a woman who is here to make an impact by showing that it does not matter where you come from, what your roots are or how humble your past may have been. You will always have an opportunity when you are determined, consistent, persistent and resilient. Even when you want to throw in the towel, even when the door is closed on you a thousand times, stay true to what you want, stay focused, and sooner or later, it will happen.

I think it was my attitude. I was always available and always open to hearing, “You can improve this,” “You can arrive earlier,” or “Do you have time to film another take?” I also think it was my attitude of always suggesting things, like, “Would you like us to do this?” or “What do you think about this?” I think enjoying the experience, being myself and always having something to contribute brought me the victory that night.

Personally, I do not think I am a queen who is smiling all the time or acting angelic all the time. I think I have a very unique essence, and part of what I have to contribute is telling you that your image does not matter. It does not matter if you are not smiling all the time. As long as you genuinely have something to contribute, a spirit of service, a good attitude and gratitude, that will take you to great places.

To me, a beauty queen is an authentic woman. She is a woman who knows how to take her essence to another level and knows how to express who she is through how she dresses, how she speaks and how she interacts with other people. That is incredibly important, but it has to come from your essence, from who you really are, rather than trying to become a stereotype or copying someone else.

She is a woman who knows how to be unique. That is what a beauty queen is to me: a unique woman who knows how to experience her beauty authentically.

It really means a lot to me that you ask about this because I come from a good, humble family. We come from humble roots. We are people who work the land and the countryside, people who wake up with the sun and go to bed with it. My family truly taught me the value of work and the value of having to earn things. My father has cattle and works in construction, and on any normal day, you can find me around the livestock and the cows. I think I am a woman who knows how to do just about everything.

I have had the opportunity to own skincare businesses and food businesses. I had a restaurant. I also know about cattle, wheat, land and corn. I know about many different subjects, even construction, trucks, cubic meters and sand. I am a very diverse woman, and I think that has also made me who I am today. It has allowed me to be in these spaces and tell people around the world that where you come from does not define you. Whether opportunities exist where you come from does not define you either.

You create your own opportunities when, every day, you keep pursuing what you want and stay determined, without forgetting your roots or the value of family. For me, my family is everything: my father, my mother, my siblings. It is something I would never trade for anything. It is where I recharge, where I feel loved and cared for. Family is essential to me.

I was about 9 years old when Ximena Navarrete, who is also from Jalisco, won Miss Universe in 2010. I was watching television with my dad, and my mom was doing my hair before I went to school. They interrupted the news to announce that a woman from Jalisco had made an impact around the world.

That was incredibly powerful for me because, in the environment where I grew up, women did not do anything extraordinary, or at least that was how it had been presented to me. Women took care of their children, had more children, cooked and cleaned. That was it. That was where the story of the women I had seen seemed to end.

As my mom was doing my hair and all of this was happening, I thought, “Okay, they are interrupting television. They are interrupting the news because of something a woman did. This must be important. This must mark a before and after.” At least, it did for me.

I thought, “Okay, one day I want to make an impact too. I want the news to stop one day and say that a woman from Jalisco is doing this.” I wanted to become an icon of beauty without losing everything else that makes me the woman I am, which includes the countryside and my family. It even includes cleaning, because people should know that a beauty queen obviously cleans her own things too. She stays organized. She does everything else, and she also has time to be beautiful and communicate that. I found that enriching. It motivated me, and that is what has brought me here today.

I was at a gym for the first time when I was around 20 years old. I was on the treadmill, and I will never forget it. A guy came up to me. His name is Osvaldo. Osvaldo, if you are reading this, I am sending you a big hug.

He asked me if I was a beauty queen. I said no. Then he told me, “You should be. You are gorgeous. You are very pretty,” and so on. I just played along and said, “Oh, yes, thank you so much.” As far as I was concerned, that was the end of the conversation.

The next day, he showed up with a sheet from a beauty pageant listing all the requirements to become a queen. You had to be a certain height, be single, and all of that. We borrowed a pair of heels because I remember perfectly that I did not even wear heels at the time. We started practicing right there at the gym during the two hours I would spend there, which was my break from university.

Then I went to my first casting to try to represent the state. They gave me a municipality, and I went to Zapopan. That was literally how I got started in beauty pageants. I came into it completely green, straight from where I grew up. It was an incredible experience, and it really marked me. I did not experience it the way I would have liked, and that ended up bringing many other things into my life.

No, I think I have always been a rebellious woman. I have always been different and disruptive. I have always asked questions. I think those of us who ask questions can make people uncomfortable. People who question things are not always the most popular because whatever is already established can be treated almost like a law of life.

Then you arrive and ask, “Why do we do this? Why do we not go through this door? Why is this the entrance and that the exit?” That always creates controversy, and it always caused problems for me.

After my first experience in a beauty pageant, I decided to ask myself who I was and why I was that way. I wrote a book called La Reina de los Problemas, or The Queen of Problems. Those “problems,” which I now see as qualities, were problems to other people. So I turned them into a crown. I put those problems on my head, and now I wear them with a lot of pride.

I am trying to help people who feel lost or feel that they cannot find their direction, particularly during adolescence, because I went through that myself. I give talks and use my voice to help other people feel comfortable and confident in their own skin.

I am the oldest of five. There are three girls and one boy after me. Being the oldest in the family is a little complicated. I think it is also a responsibility.

After me, I think my parents had already seen it all. Once they had me, I think things were a little easier with my siblings. People ask me, “How do you deal with criticism?” I think Copalita, my hometown, taught me how to live with criticism. Once you have been through that, you think, “Fine, let the whole world talk about me. The world will keep turning.”

I do not think it has anything to do with my family. That is something I have chosen for myself. I have never wanted the choices I make in love to define me.

I will be very honest with you. To me, love is like the meat you keep at home. You keep it in the freezer, and it is something you enjoy yourself, for yourself. So that is something I keep 100 percent private.

The first person to come onto the stage was my brother. I have a 10-year-old brother named Humberto. He came running over.

Sometimes you do not realize how much of an impact you have on other people's lives. He is the person who has taught me the most about believing that things are possible. He tells me, “María, you have accomplished everything.” Sometimes you do not see the impact you have until someone you love tells you that everything is possible because you were able to do it.

He wants to be a soccer player, and he always tells me that everyone says he will not be able to become a professional soccer player. But he tells me he knows he will because I was able to become a beauty queen. Because I did it.

So I think it is a responsibility, but at the same time, it is something incredibly beautiful that I carry with so much love. I carry it in my soul. It has really marked me. Sometimes there is this responsibility of thinking, “Okay, after accomplishing this, what else am I going to do to keep showing him that it is possible and that we will always find a way forward?”

But I am in God's hands, and He knows better than anyone what my destiny is and how far we will go.

Vulnerability is part of life. I think people who are truly strong are strong because they have big hearts, even if we hide them a little. And that is okay.

I think my family deserves my vulnerability, my love and my resilience. My family deserves absolutely everything because they have given me everything.

Yes, it moves me deeply because where I come from, women are not always appreciated. You need to have a very clean house, have a family, have many children or be raising your children in some extraordinary way for people to take you into account or give you a place in society.

I think I am here to say, “Okay, there are other ways. Enough. Stop right there.” People appreciate me from a different place, and I think we are learning as a family to see this other side too, and to recognize that a woman can have value and contribute to society in other ways.

I am living it right now. I am living my dream of being Miss Universe. Obviously, I still have one more step before literally reaching the universe, but I think this was my dream: to be able to share a message and tell people that it is possible.

I want to tell people that Mexicans are not only what you see in the news, the bad news, the tragedies and the sadness. Mexicans can accomplish things too. Mexicans move forward. Mexicans are friends. Mexicans stand together. Mexicans are joy. Mexicans are resilience. Mexicans are respect. We can be complete opposites, but at the same time, we complement one another.

Honestly, I do not have expectations. I am someone who lives one day at a time, who works hard, puts in the effort, stays consistent and tries to be the best version of herself every day.

The expectations I have are for myself. They are about my development and what I can contribute. That is what I am focusing on.

I would tell them not to give up. The road is long. There are very difficult stretches and very dark nights, but it is precisely that darkness that forces you to turn on your own light. Finding your own light is a process.

It is a process of accepting your shadow. It is also a process of recognizing where you have made mistakes. Once you recognize where you went wrong, the healthiest thing for everyone is to apologize and then continue moving forward.

That is the advice I would give everyone. And when you say that people might see me as an idol, that is a very powerful word for me. But if you see me as an idol, I only ask that you look at my story objectively. Take what works for you and leave behind what does not.

I do not consider myself perfect. I still have a road ahead of me. I am living my own life. That is what I recommend to people: live your own life, because today, too many people are living through the lives of others.