The Cuban influencer Mía Donadio confirmed that she would be auditioning for the Miss Universe Cuba 2026 casting.
Hours before the first casting, the young woman shared a story on Instagram where she is seen lying in bed, wearing a pink satin cap and her sequined red dress already hanging on her body, ready for the next day. "How am I going to sleep tonight, knowing that tomorrow morning is the Miss Universe Cuba casting," she wrote, with the energy and confidence that have made her a beloved figure in the Cuban community on social media.
The first in-person casting for the contest takes place this Friday in Miami. The process aims to select 24 official candidates from over a hundred registered applicants, and the winner will represent Cuba at Miss Universe 2026, scheduled for November in Puerto Rico.
For those who don't know her, Mia Dio's story with beauty pageants is as improbable as it is irresistible. It all began in February 2025, when the young crashed the magenta carpet of Premio Lo Nuestro pretending to be a celebrity. "I'm not famous, at least not yet. I infiltrated a red carpet and made everyone believe I was a celebrity, and this story just gets crazier because it ends with a Miss Universe casting," she revealed in a video that went viral.
That daring move took her straight to Miss Universe Cuba 2025, where she represented Isla de la Juventud and made it to the Top 5 of the final gala held on July 8, 2025 in Hialeah, Florida. However, her journey to the stage was marred by a dramatic episode: days before the gala, she suffered facial paralysis caused by a poorly administered Botox injection that she received to treat her temporomandibular disorder. "half of my face is paralyzed", she wrote in her Instagram stories.
Despite taking the stage with half of her face immobile, Mia was among the top five finalists. Her exclusion from the podium sparked intense debate on social media as she was a favorite for many. She, however, responded with generosity: "Lina was the obvious winner of the night" and deserved to win, she said about Lina Luaces, daughter of presenter Lili Estefan, who took home the crown and made it to the Top 12 of Miss Universe 2025 in Thailand.
After the contest, Mia also took advantage of her visibility for something that matters to her more than any crown: promoting the documentary "Patria y Vida" and urging media and influencers to speak about the situation in Cuba. With nearly a million followers on Instagram and over five million on TikTok, the 23-year-old uses her platforms to denounce the Cuban dictatorship and give a voice to causes that go far beyond the world of beauty.
"I am a winner every day because I wake up and do what I love," she wrote after losing her crown in 2025. Now, with her sequined dress ready and the same enthusiasm as always, Mia Dio is back on the stage. The question that many are already asking is whether this year the crown will end up where many believe it always should have been.
Filed under: