The new Miss USA said she was bullied in high school when she started competing in pageants

• Noelia Voigt of Utah was crowned the new Miss USA on Friday night.
• Voigt, 23, told Insider she's been competing in pageants since she was 16 years old.

When Noelia Voigt won her first pageant at the age of 16, she was overjoyed — until her own friends started bullying her.

Instead of giving up, Voigt made anti-bullying part of her pageant platform and continued competing. It all paid off on Friday night when she was crowned the new Miss USA.

Voigt sat down with Insider after her win to discuss her upcoming reign, and she opened up about her painful high school memories.

"I was so excited when I won that local pageant, and it was actually my ex-best friend who was the ringleader of it all," Voigt said. "I was really hurt and confused as to why people I thought were my friends were making fun of me for doing something that I was really excited about and that I was doing good things with."

Voigt recalled seeing text messages and memes from her friends that made fun of pageant girls or called them "ugly ducklings."

"At first, it really did sting," she said. "But it was clear to me that it was an attempt to steal the joy I had from this accomplishment."

Voigt became involved with One Love, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending relationship abuse, and learned about the 10 signs of an unhealthy relationship. She said it was a turning point as she dealt with both the bullying and an abusive relationship in high school.

"It became very eye-opening to me that the issue was not me, the issue was them," she said. "And I wanted to help people get out of toxic friendships or relationships. Because when you're in high school you should be having fun, not dealing with drama or people making fun of you."

Voigt has since authored an anti-bullying children's book, which she said she wrote in honor of a 9-year-old girl who took her own life after she was bullied at her school in Alabama.

The pageant queen told Insider she has also educated more than 1,000 students across the US on the warning signs of dating violence.

As she begins her reign at Miss USA, Voigt said she hopes to teach people what it really means to be a pageant girl today.

"We're really wanting to show people what the definition of pageantry is, and educate them that it is different now than it was years ago," Voigt said. "If we want to stay relevant and continue to garner people's support and show people the positive impacts that we make, we can't wait for them to come to us — we have to go to them."