The top beauty pageant Miss Universe 2020 was held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida on May 16, 2021. Miss Mexico Andrea Meza was crowned Miss Universe 2020 while Brazil’s Julia Gama was crowned 1st runner-up and Peru’s Janick Maceta, the 2nd runner-up.
Miss Diva Universe 2020, Adline Castelino, born in a Mangalorean Catholic family made it to the Top 5 and became the 3rd runner-up. Her praiseworthy performance and several gorgeous looks at the pageant garnered a lot of admiration on social media. Her national costume at the pageant, inspired by the national flower of India, ‘the lotus’, was designed by Hyderabad-based designer, Shravan Kumar.
Castelino was born in 1998 in Kuwait City to Mangalorean Catholic parents Meera and Alphonse Castelino, originally from Udyavara in Udupi, Karnataka. Attending the Indian Central School in Kuwait, she returned to Mumbai at the age of 15, and attended St. Xavier’s High School and graduated from Wilson College of Business Administration, Mumbai. Besides Konkani, her mother tongue, Castelino is fluent in Hindi, English and Kannada. She is passionate about dance and loves watching biographical documentaries and stand-up comedy. Castelino is an intermediate-level swimmer as well.
She participated in an online pageant in 2018. In 2019, she was crowned ‘Miss Cocoaberry Diva’ at the Cocoaberry Training Academy, Mumbai, where she was trained for pageants.
The diva in association with a welfare organization, Vikas Sahayog Pratishthan (VSP), works for the benefit of farmers, trying to curb farmer suicide rates. She promotes leadership programmes for women as well as works to spread awareness concerning the acceptance of the LGBT community. In addition, Castelino has initiated various fundraisers for charitable causes and provided essentials such as food supplies, sanitizers and face masks during the 2020 lockdown to Desire Society, a non-profit voluntary organization in India, caring for HIV-infected children.
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