Former Miss Earth Katherine Espin took the pageantry by storm as she shared her decision to join Miss Universe Ecuador 2024 with the changes in the rules to accommodate married women, mothers to participate at Miss Universe.

Ecuadorian beauty Katherine Espin was crowned Miss Earth 2016 at the finals of the international pageant held on 29th October 2016 at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. Katherine completed a wonderful reign as Miss Earth 2016 with continued support from Miss Earth organization.

A mom and a lawyer, Katherine is currently the president of the Miss Earth Ecuador organization. While Katherine is ready to embark on a new journey to take on another challenge and doing what she loves the most promoting a positive message in society, she has also received a little backlash over pageantry fans claiming her to disrespect Miss Earth crown by crossing over to Miss Universe.

The fans believe that Katherine is gambling her Miss Earth crown and disrespecting the organization that gave her continuous support. At 31, Katherine has shown courage in accepting everyone’s opinions as she gears up on another journey to try to win the chance to represent Ecuador at an international platform.

To look at the flip side, there have been recent successes for crossover beauty queens with Anntonia Porsild being crowned Miss Supranational 2019 and then winning the chance to represent Thailand at Miss Universe 2023 and being placed as the first runner-up at the finale, winning Thailand’s highest placement at Miss Universe since 1988.

Being a transformational leader, Katherine could be a beacon of change in the pageantry; however, there is strong competition at national level as well with other pageant veterans competing at Miss Universe Ecuador this year.