Miss Universe Contestant Reveals Brutal Injury Weeks Before Pageant
By Jason Hall
May 16, 2025
A woman vying to become the 2025 Miss Universe Australia revealed a brutal injury weeks before the pageant.
Brigitte Murphy, who is representing Victoria, suffered a large scab and bruising on her face after taking a fall on a netball court two weeks before the competition was scheduled to take place.
“I just can’t believe this,” Murphy said in the first of a series of clips shared on her TikTok account, referring to the accident as the "worst possible case scenario" other than broken bones preventing her from walking.
“I played netball and as I was mid-air catching the ball I was pushed and I had about point five of a second to turn around and brace myself,” she said.
@brigitte.murphy This is no joke, call 911 🙃 To add to this, after finishing the vid, I noticed a fractured tooth! Lucky me #netballinjury #whyme #missuniverseaustralia #missuniverse
♬ original sound - Brig Murphy
Murphy managed to somewhat protect herself but ended up with her right cheek and eye grazing the court, as well as her tooth being fractured.
“I mean, if you don’t laugh, you cry – right?" she said.
Murphy continued to document her injury on TikTok, claiming she was extremely uncomfortable and her injuries made it difficult to sleep as her eye swelled up significantly from day one to day two.
“I have 13 days until Vietnam with Miss Universe, and this is what my face looks like,” she said. “This morning my upper eyelid has completely blown up. I’ve got work today so I’m going to try my best to cover it up,” Murphy said while applying some concealer in the video.
Murphy gave a third update in which she said a CT scan showed she was in the "all clear" from concerns about a possible facial fracture, as well as a dentist telling her there was "no chance" of her tooth dying due to the fracture. Fortunately, the swelling managed to go down within five days as only a few red patches were left on her skin.
“The swelling, bruising and the wound has gone down. People told me to wrap myself up in cotton wool. Like, sorry, your girl’s not going to do that," Murphy said in her fifth update.
@brigitte.murphy 3 more sleeps until I go to Vietnam with Miss Universe Australia! The excitement is real 🥰 #missiniverse #missuniverseaustralia #fyp #fypage #ootd #journey
♬ original sound - Brig Murphy
Murphy has since shared Instagram photos of herself in Vietnam for the Miss Universe competition, where she's among 30 finalists to become Miss Universe Australia.
"Night 4 - Pool party with my VIC girlies @hoiana_resort_golf so grateful for such a beautiful bunch of ladies to experience this with," Murphy wrote on a post shared Friday (May 16).