[2][3] On 8 February 2018, Sousa announced his public intention to retire from the position and was ultimately succeeded by Gabriela Isler as national director for the Miss Venezuela pageant.

[4] After high school he studied with Horacio Peterson's acting company with Lupita Ferrer, Miguel Ángel Landa and Luis Abreu, but quickly realized that he was not cut out to be an actor.

Sousa continued working with that committee when, in 1970, Ignacio Font Coll reconstituted it as the OPPA Advertising Agency, which in turn was the predecessor of the actual Miss Venezuela Organization.

In 2007, Sousa joined with Lupita Jones, a former Miss Universe (1991), and Carlos Calderón, emcee of "El Gordo y La Flaca", in judging Univision's Hispanic beauty contest Nuestra Belleza Latina.

[10] Osmel Sousa has been involved in a number of controversies over the years, with everything from whether the color and style of dress that he picked was appropriate,[11] to whether or not he advised plastic surgery for a particular contestant[12] to the charge that he creates "fashion mannequins".