Paraguayan beauty queen Nadia Ferreira, a selection committee member at the Miss Universe 2023 Competition in El Salvador, has addressed allegations that she prevented Miss Dominican Republic Mariana Downing from making it to the top 20 semi-finalists last weekend.

“First of all, I’m a mature woman; I know what she and all the contestants are going through at that moment. 

“I think she (Mariana Downing) is a very beautiful woman, very beautiful, and she has the possibilities, just like everyone else; I know that she is going to do very well in her career too," Nadia told Carlos Adyan of Telemundo, according to a report by hola.com.

Nadia, who finished first runner-up at the Miss Universe 2021 Competition in Israel, is the current wife of Salsa singer Marc Anthony, 55. They got married in January 2021. 

But before they met, Mariana and Marc were in a relationship. Hola said that at that time, Mariana was 21 while March was 49.  Mariana and Marc were romantically linked after the singer finalized his third wife's divorce.

Mariana, 27, told Hola USA: It was a beautiful moment in my life,” confessed the Dominican beauty. However, she clarified that it is a closed chapter in her life. “I have my life, I have my things, I have my goals ahead,” she expressed. “I don’t have much to say because that’s in the past; I carry that time with a lot of affection, but it’s already past.”