Catalina Morales

Catalina Morales Gómez (born December 11, 1990) is a Puerto Rican model, television personality, and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2015. She represented Puerto Rico at Miss Universe 2015, where she was unplaced. In 2021, Morales appeared on season 25 of The Bachelor.

Catalina Morales
Born	Catalina Morales Gómez December 11, 1990 Medellín, Colombia
Education	University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (BA) University of Puerto Rico School of Law (JD)
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Title	Miss Gurabo Mundo 2011 Miss Guaynabo Universe 2015 Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2015
Beauty pageant titleholder
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Brown
Major competition(s)	Miss World Puerto Rico 2011 (Top 12) Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2015 (Winner) Miss Universe 2015 (Unplaced)

Outside of her career in entertainment and television, Morales is also a practicing attorney, who works in business and entertainment law in New York City.

Early life and education

Morales was born in Medellín to an Italian Colombian family. When she was six months old, the family left Colombia and settled in Caguas, Puerto Rico.[1] She attended Colegio Católico Notre Dame in Caguas, later graduating with a 4.0 GPA. Afterwards, she enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in advertising and public relations. After taking a year off from school to care for her terminally ill father, she enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico School of Law, and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 2017.[2][3]

Pageantry

Morales began her career in pageantry in 2008, when she was selected to represent Puerto Rico at Miss Italia nel Mondo 2008, a pageant for women belonging to the Italian diaspora.[4] She did not place in the pageant.[5] Morales returned to pageantry three years afterwards, when she represented Gurabo in the Miss World Puerto Rico 2011 competition, placing in the top twelve.[6]

In 2015, Morales was selected to represent Guaynabo at the Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2015 competition. During the competition, she won the Best Hair award, sponsored by TRESemmé, and also placed sixth in the national costume contest.[7] The competition was held in Ponce, Puerto Rico on October 9, 2014, and Morales went on to be crowned the winner.[8] During her reign, she wrote a book chronicling her father's battle and subsequent death from terminal lung cancer.[2] As Miss Universe Puerto Rico, she represented Puerto Rico at Miss Universe 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she went unplaced. Her reign as Miss Universe Puerto Rico ended after she crowned Kristhielee Caride as her successor the following year.[9]

Television

In July 2015, Morales began hosting her own television segment "Catalina's Universe" on the program Viva la tarde, aired on WAPA-TV. Her work with WAPA-TV ended in August 2016.[3]

In October 2020, Morales was announced as one of the 43 women shortlisted as a possible competitor for season 25 of The Bachelor.[10][11] She later was part of the group of five women who joined the show during episode four, aired January 25, 2021.[12] Morales was eliminated in the following episode, aired February 1.[13]

References

1. Oscar Emilio Antolinez. "Polémica con Miss Puerto Rico por nacer en Colombia - Noticias Neiva Huila Colombia en Tusemanario.com". tusemanario.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
2. Tinoco, Armando (December 17, 2015). "Catalina Morales Miss Universe 2015 Photos: 6 Facts Of Beauty Queen Representing Puerto Rico". Latin Times.
3. "Catalina Morales". LinkedIn. Catalina Morales. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
4. magic moving pixel s.a. "miss italia nel mondo 2008". italiani.lu. Archived from the original on 17 July 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
5. "Zoom: 47 Catalina Morales Portorico". italiani.lu. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
6. "Amanda Vilanova se corona Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico 2011". Primerahora.com. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
7. "Catalina Morales Gomez Crowned Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2015". Beauty Pageant News. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
8. Rodríguez, Víktor (November 9, 2015). "Catalina Morales defiende su traje típico de Miss Universe". Metro.pr (in Spanish).
9. Dicker, Ron (March 18, 2016). "Miss Universe Puerto Rico Stripped Of Crown". Huff Post.
10. Rice, Hannah (October 6, 2020). "'The Bachelor': Miss Universe Catalina Morales Will Be Competing For Matt James". The Things.
11. Emmanuele, Julia (October 6, 2020). "Meet The Women Who Might Be On Matt James' Season Of The Bachelor". Bustle.
12. Longeretta, Emily (January 22, 2021). "Meet the 5 New Women Joining Matt James' Season of 'The Bachelor'". Us Weekly.
13. Baldwin, Kristen (February 1, 2021). "The Bachelor recap: Toxic waste". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.

External links

• Catalina Morales on Instagram