REIGNING Miss Universe Jamaica Miqueal-Symone Williams, who was a top 10 finalist at Sunday’s Miss Universe pageant held in Hollywood, Florida, is set to return to the island this Thursday. The beauty continued Jamaica’s rich tradition of excellence at international beauty pageants when she emerged out of a field of 74 contestants to finish among the final 10.

The competition was eventually won by Mexico’s Andrea Meza, a 26-year old software engineer. This was the 69th staging of the pageant.

According to Karl Williams, franchise holder for the local leg of the contest, the Jamaican beauty is remaining in Florida for key discussions with some important people.

“She has some meetings with some very important and influential people and right now we really can’t say anything about that, so we will see how that unfolds,” he told the Jamaica Observer as he prepared to board a flight back to Jamaica yesterday.

Williams noted that plans are being finalised to appropriately recognise the beauty queen when she returns home, in appreciation for her performance on the stage of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa on Sunday.

“We are so pleased with her performance; there are so many persons saying she should have been in the top five. While we would have loved to see her place higher of course, we really can’t downplay what she did and how proud we are that she made it to the top 10.”

“She is an amazing young lady, and a hard worker. We have seen how much effort she put into this whole process and we can truly say we are proud of her. Top 10 is a great placing. There are so many countries who have been sending contestants since the inception of the pageant and have never cracked the top 10, and Jamaica has been there so many times. There is no doubt that this should open doors for her, and we are so proud,” Williams continued.

Miqueal-Symone Williams took to Twitter following the pageant to express gratitude for the support she has received.

“Now that I’m done crying I can say a big thank you to everyone for watching and supporting me! This was an amazing night and I did my best! I’m very proud of myself and grateful for your support,” she shared.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness was among those to publicly congratulate her on the performance on such a major platform. Past queens including Yendi Phillipps and Terri-Karelle Reid were also among the many who lauded her performance.

She joins the list of local beauties including Sandra Foster, Kimberly Mais, Nicole Haughton, Christine Straw, Phillipps and Davina Bennett, who all ascended to the semi-final round of the Miss Universe pageant.