New beauty queen crowned

By Kayla Young - October 1, 2020

Like so many other occasions this year, the 2020 Miss Cayman Islands Universe pageant was far from typical.

When 26-year-old accountant Mariah Tibbetts learned she would be crowned queen, the islands were still in lockdown and, in theory, the pageant was still months away.

The event committee realised early on, however, that with the uncertainty and economic impact created by COVID-19, a traditional pageant would not happen this year.

The decision to crown the 2019 first-runner-up, Tibbetts, came as a surprise and the Bodden Town beauty, with Cayman Brac roots, is still adjusting to her uncommon ascent to the crown.

Tibbetts stopped by the Cayman Compass studio to reflect on her 26 Sept. crowning at Grand Old House and what she hopes to accomplish during her unexpected reign.

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Your journey to the crown was a little different than the traditional route. Tell us about that.

It definitely was different. Usually when they call me, it’s for an event, if [2019 queen] Kadejah [Bodden] is busy or they have a social gathering. When I saw the missed call, we were actually in lockdown at that point, so I had no idea what it was about, because it couldn’t possibly be an event.

I called back and when they offered me the opportunity, of course, I jumped at it. I would never let something like that pass me up. But to be honest, I didn’t know if it would actually happen. We were still in lockdown; everything was shut down, and we just really didn’t know how it would end.

When we finally came out of lockdown and things started opening back up again, it kind of hit me that I actually might have to be Miss Cayman Islands Universe. It’s been very indescribable, to be honest. I’m still in shock. I’m still getting used to it, but I’m excited.

Let’s step back to 2019 when your 2020 crowning really started. What happened then?
In 2019, when I actually did the pageant onstage, I got first-runner-up; and, obviously, everyone enters to win, but I accepted my title as first-runner-up. I supported Kadejah in any way that I could, and I really made peace with it.

I just was thankful for the lessons. I grew from it and I took what I could. I had kind of closed that chapter of my life. I had other goals. I was looking towards doing other things, and then all of this happened. The opportunity came up and it’s just so funny that you plan things and they usually don’t turn out the way you plan.

But I think that I was put in this role for a reason, and I really hope to make the best of it and… make an impact.

How have you shifted back into the mindset and stepped into being Miss Cayman Islands Universe?
I’ll be honest: At the crowning, one of my main concerns was that I hadn’t walked in a gown since last year. It took some time to get back into it, but it actually came pretty naturally. You kind of just click into it.

I also have been on stage for a lot of my life. I used to be in the Cayman Islands national dance school, Dance Unlimited. I have some practice being on stage and obviously the pageant as well. I was a bit nervous, but I think that everything’s coming back.

Tell us about your support of the Cayman Islands Cancer Society.
I’m very excited to be working with the Cancer Society this year. I actually have a lot of family history with cancer. I’ve grown up around cancer my whole life, unfortunately. So, the organisation really hits home for me.

I really hope that I can just spread their message. They do good work, and they put all of their money into helping these patients, helping these people and supporting them. They don’t really have a lot to spend on marketing and being glamorous or anything like that.

So, I hope that I can be that voice for them and use my platform, use my reach to get their word out and get them more supporters and more donations.

How do you hope to connect with the Cayman community?
I hope to be an ambassador and a role model for my fellow Caymanians. I just want to bring it back home. I want to make everyone connected again. I know that obviously with everything that happened with COVID-19, everything is a bit weird. We don’t really feel like we did before it started. I hope that I can just bring that togetherness back, the Caymankind back, and get to know as many of my fellow Caymanians as I can.

Something that I also would love to do is to be more involved in the Sister Islands community. I would love to travel there more often… and really get involved with their events and just remind us that we are three islands.

https://www.caymancompass.com/2020/10/01/mariah-tibbetts-returns-to-pageant-world-as-queen/