H'hen Niê received backlash for asking a beauty pageant contestant an insensitive question.

Episode 1 ofI am Miss Universe Vietnamjust aired on the evening of October 27th, recording new developments in the preliminary round in Ho Chi Minh City. The rules of the preliminary round require contestants to compete in a combination of behavior and catwalk. Each beauty speaks about a keyword for 45 seconds, then catwalks in front of the judges and receives the results.

After episode 1 aired, judge H'Hen Nie received backlash from the audience for asking a question that was considered tactless to a contestant.

Specifically, H'Hen Nie gave Bui Thi Xuan Hanh a "fun quiz" and wanted her to handle the situation. The question mentioned the difficult situation of Xuan Hanh's family: "My whole family got on a boat. That boat had me, my parents and my younger brother. Unfortunately, the boat sank and everyone fell into the sea. Who was the first person you saved?"

Contestant Xuan Hanh, also a student of Vu Thu Phuong atThe Face, "froze" for a few seconds and then calmly made the choice to save the person closest to him. The answer satisfied H'hen Niê and the audience with her reasonable response.

However, many people were surprised by the content of the question and found it not as "fun" as H'hen Nie said. The question was not only difficult in terms of the situation but was also considered tactless in putting both the contestant and their loved ones in a life-threatening situation. Although it was just a hypothetical story to know the contestant's attitude and reaction, the audience said that there were many ways and situations to ask, it was not necessary to put the life of a loved one on the table for the contestant to choose.

On social networks, many viewers expressed their opposition to H'Hen Nie's question, not only stopping at the content of the question but also clearly expressing dissatisfaction with H'Hen Nie's lack of tact and thinking that the question was very disrespectful to the contestant.