She made history for her country by becoming the first Miss Angola to be crowned Miss Universe.
But Leila Lopes's victory has been questioned following allegations that false documents were used to help her get into an earlier pageant, where a win effectively put her into the main competition.
A man called Charles Mukano allegedly helped the 25-year-old get to the Miss Angola UK pageant, which only includes Angolan women living in Britain - despite her reportedly living in Angola.
Mr Mukano was reported by an Argentinian news source to be the organiser of the pageant that crowned her Miss Angola in her home country.
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| A winning combination: Miss Angola's evening wear and swimsuit parade won her Miss Universe, as well as her intelligent answers |
However Miss Universe officials told AOL Latino they have never even heard of Mr Mukano and the organiser who ran the Miss Angola pageant is actually called Renato Guttler.
But Argentine news outlet Infobae reported Mr Mukano allegedly obtained false documents to say Lopes is a business student in Britain - and he had been questioned before about other documents.
Ms Lopes has not yet commented on the allegations. The Miss Universe Organization also told AOL Latino it denies other circulating rumours that Ms Lopes has Cuban parents and speaks Spanish.
When Ms Lopes won earlier this week, she laughed and smiled as she hugged runner-up Miss Ukraine, Olesia Stefanko, before having her crown firmly placed on her head at the pageant.
The business student from Angola's seaside city of Beguela, dazzled the panel of judges at the pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with both her beauty and brains.
When she had been asked earlier what she might change about her physical characteristics, Leila replied that she was satisfied with who she was.
'I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty,' she told the judges and the audience.
'I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family, and I plan to follow those through the rest of my life.'
Her down-to-earth nature was complemented with immense outer beauty too though, which she showed off in a bright yellow bikini during the swimsuit parade.
After displaying her bikini body to millions of fans watching the pageant on TV around the world, Lopes paraded around the stage with poise in a form-fitting gold and silver sequinned evening gown.
Miss Angola beat 88 competitors in the 60th annual Miss Universe pageant.
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| Congratulations: Former Miss Universe, Ximena Navarrete of Mexico gives Leila a kiss on the cheek |
Finalists accompanying Lopes into the top five were Miss Ukraine Olesia Stefanko, Miss Philippines Shamcey Supsup, Miss China Luo Zilin and Miss Brazil Priscila Machado.
While the other countries that made the top ten were Miss Australia Scherri-lee Biggs, Miss Costa Rica Johanna Solano, Miss France Laury Thilleman, Miss Portugal Laura Goncalves and Miss Panama Sheldry Saez.
As well as competing in categories ranging from swimsuits to evening gowns, the women also had to answer the critical question that tells the judges a bit about them.
In fan voting, Ms Lopes tallied only a 3.6 score for the swimsuit but earned a 7.2 for her evening gown. Fan voting, however, did not count in the final tallies from nine judges.
The panellists, who ranged from race car driver Helio Castroneves to actress Vivica A. Fox and journalist Connie Chung, scored the women on each contest, narrowing from a group of 16 down to a final five.
The show was hosted by U.S. television personalities Andy Cohen and Natalie Morales.
Out of the past 13 pageants held in the past decade, seven have been won by Latina contestants, making Miss Angola's win even more exciting for her home country.
Miss Angola started competing in the Miss Universe competitions in 1998, with the first ever contestant from the African nation being Emilia Guardado.
Since 1997, two Miss Angolas have been semi-finalists in the top 15 and one made it into the top 10, but Leila Lopes is the first to be crowned with the title.
© Daily Mail, London
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