Hương Giang

Biography

Nguyễn Hương Giang is a prominent Vietnamese transgender woman, singer and beauty pageant titleholder. In March 2018, she won Miss International Queen 2018 in Pattaya, Thailand. As Miss Universe Vietnam 2025, she represented Vietnam at Miss Universe 2025 in Thailand.

== Early life == Huong Giang was born in Hanoi and was assigned male at birth. She realised her identity as a woman at a young age. She said in an interview:"Ever since I was young, I've never thought of myself as a boy. I used to dream of wearing a fishtail dress. My hand was holding a microphone. And after I woke up, I realised I wanted to be like that, to grow up to become a girl - a good, beautiful girl."Huong Giang grew her hair long and wore make up frequently. People often thought that she was a weird boy, and they criticised and discriminated against her. In her autobiography, she wrote, "Many nights I cried until I had no tears left because of the humiliation and the ridicule from others." Huong Giang underwent gender-affirming surgery in Thailand as an adult. In order to earn money for the surgery, she sang at many shows, such as in restaurants and at weddings. Her parents were initially unsupportive of her decision to transition but have since apologised for this and have publicly expressed their pride in their daughter's success.

== Television == Huong Giang was the first transgender singer to participate in the fourth season of Vietnam Idol, finishing the show in fourth place. In 2014, Huong Giang was a contestant on The Amazing Race Vietnam Season 3 with her then-boyfriend, Criss Lai, winning the competition. The pair returned to the show on the 5th season - an all-stars edition, finishing in second place. In 2015, Huong Giang took part in the 6th season of Dancing with the Stars Vietnam (Bước Nhảy Hoàn Vũ). Huong Giang and her dance partner finished the series in 5th place, being eliminated in the semi-final. In 2017, Huong Giang joined the reality show Stars in the Army (Sao nhập ngũ), where celebrities experience the strict and challenging life of the military in seven days. Huong Giang's humor brought many moments of laughter to both the other participants and audience. From 2018 to 2020, Huong Giang participated in three seasons of the reality show Who is Single Vietnam (Người ấy là ai?) as a mentor. She was the key factor that made the show successful. In Who is Single Vietnam, Huong Giang represented the LGBTQ+ community. With her humor and intelligence, she shared with the audience the experiences and challenges faced by LGBTQ+ people, helping viewers better understand this community. In 2023, Huong Giang was a coach on the inaugural season of The New Mentor, a Vietnamese reality TV competition that sought to train a new generation of models with leadership qualities for the high-end fashion industry. The other coaches on the show were supermodels Lan Khue and Thanh Hang, and singer Ho Ngoc Ha.

== Pageantry ==

=== Miss International Queen ===

Hương Giang represented Vietnam and finished in first place at Miss International Queen 2018, winning herself a cash prize of US$12,500. At the competition, she also won Best Talent for her performance of Hush Hush; Hush Hush by The Pussycat Dolls, as well as most popular introductory video. Prior to the competition, Huong Giang had had no background in pageantry, as there had not been an official pageantry competition for transgender contestants in Vietnam at the time. Huong Giang was also the first Vietnamese contestant in Miss International Queen. In 2022, Huong Giang returned to the final of Miss International Queen as a member of the judging panel.

=== Miss International Queen Vietnam ===

After being crowned as Miss International Queen in 2018, Huong Giang acquired the license for the franchise to organise the competition in Vietnam. The competition, which seeks to select the Vietnamese representative for Miss International Queen, was initially called The Tiffany Vietnam and is now known as Miss International Queen Vietnam. The competition is produced by Huong Giang's production company, Huong Giang entertainment, and broadcast on its YouTube channel. To date, four editions of the competition have taken place, with Huong Giang acting as producer and judge for all four seasons. Its first ever winner was Nhat Ha, crowned in 2019. Many of the contestants on Miss International Queen Vietnam have since found success internationally. Nguyễn Tường San, who finished the 2023 competition as first runner-up, went on to be the second runner-up at Miss International Queen 2024. Hà Tâm Như, who won the 2025 competition, finished Miss International Queen 2025 as second runner-up. Prior to the first edition of Miss International Queen in 2018/19, pageant competitions for transgender women had been held in Vietnam, but they were not recognised officially as national competitions.