By Simone Carter
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Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Argentina shocked the world after the pair announced they'd gotten hitched after two years of privately dating. Now their colleagues, fans and the broader LGBTQ+ community are celebrating the couple's love.
Fabiola Valentin, the 22-year-old Miss Puerto Rico, met her new spouse in 2020 at the Miss Grand International competition. Both she and Miss Argentina, Mariana Varela, 26, had posted photos with one another to their respective social media platforms, although they hadn't explicitly revealed that they were in a romantic relationship until now.
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The newlyweds decided to announce their love in an Instagram Reel post on Sunday, sharing photos and videos of their engagement and wedding.
"After deciding to keep our relationship private, we opened the doors to them on a special day," reads the caption of the post, which has been broadcast to the couple's more than 272,000 combined followers.
...
By early Wednesday afternoon, the Instagram Reel had received more than 174,000 likes and scores of comments.
Valentin and Varela shared snippets from their romantic engagement, which included sparkling strings of Christmas lights, rose petals and candles, in addition to balloons spelling out the message: "Marry Me?"
The pair also included a video of them on their wedding day—Friday, October 28—at the San Juan marriage bureau, notes The New York Post.
Colleagues and fans widely embraced the beauty queen couple and congratulated the two in the comments section.
"Omg congratulations [Miss Grand International] brought together a beautiful union," a Ghanaian-American beauty pageant winner wrote.
Fellow pageant titleholder Samantha Bernardo of the Philippines replied: "Omg! Congratulations sisters! Lovelovelove!"
"Congratulations ladies!!!!!!!" commented CBS News journalist David Begnaud.
At one point, Varela reportedly replied in her Instagram Stories with the comment: "Thanks for all the love! We are very happy and blessed. I wish you that the love you are giving us is multiplied! Infinite thanks."
More than a year ago, Valentin also posted a video and photo compilation to Instagram in honor of Varela's birthday.
"Happy Birthday, my friend!" the post read. "Thank you for making me part of your life and accomplice in your happiness. You are a priceless treasure and I hope to keep our friendship forever. Because the next one.... we spend it together I love you!"
The queer community is helping the happy couple ring in their union.
In a tweet on Wednesday, the LGBTQ+ organization GLAAD shared a Gay Times article about the news, along with the caption, "Congratulations Mariana Varela and Fabiola Valentin!"
Newsweek reached out to Varela and Valentin for comment.
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