Noelia Voigt is an American model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2023 on September 29, 2023. She is the third woman from Utah to win Miss USA, 63 years after its last win in 1960.[2]
She represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2023 pageant on November 18, 2023, in El Salvador, where she placed in the top 20.[3] Voigt is an anti-bullying advocate.[4] On May 6, 2024, she renounced her title.
Voigt has said she wanted to compete in pageants as a child, but her mother made her wait until she became a teenager.[7] After competing in her first pageant at age 16, she faced bullying by her peers which inspired her to take up a platform of anti-bullying.[7] In 2021, Voigt authored a children's book called Maddie the BRAVE, inspired by Madison Whitsett, a 9-year-old who died by suicide after being bullied at her school in 2018.[8][9]
After reaching the first runner-up position at Miss Alabama-USA for the second consecutive time, she moved to South Jordan, Utah, in April 2023 and competed for the title of Miss Utah USA 2023. After winning her adoptive state pageant, she went on to represent Utah at Miss USA 2023 on September 29 in Reno, Nevada, winning and becoming their first Venezuelan-American winner and state titleholder.
During the competition, after passing through the top 20 with the swimsuit and evening gown competitions, she eventually reaching the top five, along with contestants from Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. In the final question and answer round, Voigt was asked: "As the brand ambassador for Miss USA, what will be your contribution to the organization?" to which she answered:
I believe the ability to connect with people is an incredibly important asset that a Miss USA should have. The United States of America is an incredibly diverse country, probably one of the most diverse in the entire world. So being able to connect with everybody is important. As a bilingual Venezuelan-American woman, I plan to connect with that community of people because the United States of America is a diverse country and a Miss USA needs to be able to represent every community no matter their background, their race, their ethnicity, anything and I would like to be that Miss USA.[11]
As Miss USA 2023, Voigt represented the U.S. at the 2023 Miss Universe pageant held in El Salvador on November 18, 2023 and reached the top 20 semi-finalists.[20]