A few days ago, she made history by becoming the first Angolan to be crowned Miss Universe.
But before she can truly savour the victory, Leila Lopes has been plunged into controversy.
Questions are now being raised about her win after allegations surfaced that false documents were used to help her gain entry to an earlier pageant, which she won and helped her get into the Miss Universe pageant, Daily Mail reported.
A man called Mr Charles Mukano allegedly helped the 25-year-old get to the Miss Angola UK pageant, which was open only to 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 Lopes Miss Angola in her home country.
But Miss Universe officials told AOL Latino they have never heard of Mr Mukano and that the organiser who ran the Miss Angola pageant is Mr Renato Guttler.
Argentine news outlet Infobae reported that Mr Mukano allegedly obtained false papers to say Lopes is a business student in Britain.
The report said he had been questioned before about other documents.
Miss Lopes has yet to comment on the allegations.
The Miss Universe Organisation has also denied allegations that she has Cuban parents and speaks Spanish, reported AOL Latino.
The business student from Angola's seaside city of Beguela dazzled the judges at the Miss Universe pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with both her beauty and brains.
When she was asked earlier at the contest what she might change of her physical characteristics, Miss Lopes 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 by immense outer beauty too, which she showed off in a bright yellow bikini during the swimsuit parade.
And millions of viewers around the world watched as she walked on stage with poise in a form-fitting gold and silver sequinned evening gown.
Miss Angola beat 88 competitors in the 60th edition of the competition.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
