Galaxy International & Belleza Latina Pageants

A recognized force within the pageant industry, Maria Torres is the national director of not just one pageant, but runs two well-known pageants at the same time! The Galaxy International and Belleza Latina pageants are widely recognized and have some of the highest contestant return statistics in the pageant industry. Join us as Maria Torres discusses the philosophy behind her two pageants and shares what its like to run two pageants at once!

Episode Segments:

Maria Torres Part One Maria Torres shares the story of how she got into pageantry, why she decided to create the Belleza Latina pageant, and how the Galaxy International System came her way. She also describes the differences and similarities between her two pageant systems.
Embed Code
Maria Torres Part Two Maria reveals the #1 mistake her contestants make, and why her contestants return to her pageants over and over again. Plus how she chooses franchise directors, how she handles complaints & at-large contestants, and why fun fashion is her favorite part of the competition.
Embed Code
Ask Valerie! In this edition of the popular Q & A segment, Valerie answers questions on gown colors, highlighting your hair, low crab diets, and finding a seamstress for your evening gown. Plus Valeries inspirational thought for the week and her thoughts on last weekends Mrs. International Pageant.
Embed Code

Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Maria Torres Maria (Ingles) Torres started doing pageants at the age of 16 when her mother entered her in the Miss Massachusetts Teen USA pageant in 1984. Although she did not win the state title that year, she did win the Best Costume Award and made Top 20 out of 109 contestants. After the pageant, Maria had the “bug”. Her mother enrolled her in modeling school and she graduated with their highest award of Best Model. She continued to model locally for major department stores and such clients as The Gap, Victoria’s Secret, and local couture designers. The following year she gave the MA Teen pageant another try and came home with the title –Miss Massachusetts Teen USA 1985 where she competed with 128 contestants that year. In 1990 she was on Univision’s largest internationally televised Saturday show “Sabado Gigante”, where she competed in the Spokesmodel competition and also was chosen as the winner. That year, at the age of 23, she found out she was expecting a child. She became a single mom knowing it would end her pageant career. Back then, single mothers were not allowed to enter pageants. This is when she started envisioning a pageant that believed single mothers were NOT a bad example, and a pageant that celebrated cultural pride…this was the beginning of Miss Belleza Latina. It was not until the year 2000 that she was finally able to get her dream started with the help of her loving husband, Martin Torres. Now married with 3 children, she won her first Mrs. pageant in 2004 when she won the title Mrs. Galaxy International 2005. She is now the owner of the Galaxy system and loves what she does. Belleza Latina is approaching its 8th year, and Maria could not be happier with the success of the pageant or prouder of the Latinas that have proudly worn her sashes all over the world! Click Here to Visit the Galaxy International Pageant's Website