Siera Bearchell

Bearchell began her pageantry career as a teenager. After losing her family home to a house fire, Bearchell wished to pursue charity through pageantry after being inspired by the help her family received from organizations like the Red Cross.[3] She competed in Miss Teen Saskatchewan World 2009, later winning the title and advancing to Miss Teen Canada World 2009, which she also won. As Miss Teen Canada World, she competed in Miss Teen World and placed as the second runner-up.[4][3][2]

Bearchell afterwards took a hiatus from pageantry, returning to competition as an adult in 2013. She competed in Miss Universe Canada 2013, where she placed as the first runner-up behind winner Riza Santos. Afterwards, she competed in Miss Supranational Canada 2015 and won, going on to represent Canada at Miss Supranational 2015 in Krynica-Zdrój, Poland, where she placed as the first runner-up.[4]

In 2016, Bearchell returned to Miss Universe Canada, where she was crowned Miss Universe Canada 2016, after previously placing as the first runner-up in 2013. As Miss Universe Canada, she was given the right to represent Canada at the Miss Universe 2016 competition, to be held in Manila, Philippines.

Upon her arrival at Miss Universe, Bearchell became the victim of cyberbullying, with commentators making negative remarks regarding Bearchell's weight and appearance.[5][6][7][8] Following these attacks, Bearchell received widespread media attention for breaking norms regarding the bodies of beauty pageant contestants, and for advocating for body positivity.[9][10][2][11][12] Bearchell went on to place in the top nine at Miss Universe, becoming the first Canadian entrant to reach the semifinals since Alice Panikian at Miss Universe 2006; the eventual winner of the competition was Iris Mittenaere, who had been crowned Miss France 2016.[13] After the end of her reign, Bearchell crowned Lauren Howe as her Miss Universe Canada successor in 2017.[14]