The 25-year-old humanitarian and volunteer received the crown from outgoing titleholder Victoria Kjær Theilvig of Denmark, News.Az reports, citing CNN.
Miss Universe, often dubbed the “Super Bowl” of beauty pageants, attracts millions of viewers worldwide. National representatives compete after winning local pageants that obtain licenses from the Miss Universe Organization.
Thailand’s Praveenar Singh finished as runner-up, while Venezuela’s Stephany Abasali, the Philippines’ Ahtisa Manalo and Ivory Coast’s Olivia Yacé completed the top five.
Thailand, this year’s host country, has a vibrant and lucrative pageant industry with one of the largest fanbases in Asia, alongside the Philippines.
This year’s event featured representatives from 120 countries. Nadeen Ayoub became the first woman to represent Palestinian people at the pageant, and made it to the final 30 semifinalists before she was eliminated.
Friday’s finale was hosted by American comedian Steve Byrne and opened with a performance by Thai singer Jeff Satur.
Following the swimwear round, the top 30 contestants were narrowed down to 12, and then down to 5 after the evening round.
Finalists were asked questions including which global issue they would speak about in front of the United Nations General Assembly, and how they would use the Miss Universe platform to empower young girls.
The competition took place over three weeks, with delegates traveling around the country to rehearse and participate in events.
On Wednesday, the beauty queens competed in the national costume showcase, which saw contestants donning flamboyant outfits designed to highlight their homelands. Miss USA, Audrey Eckert, paid homage to her home with an elaborate bald eagle costume designed by Simon Villalba.
The contestant from Jamaica, Gabrielle Henry, took a scary tumble during the evening gown round at Wednesday’s preliminaries and was carried away in a stretcher, according to social media videos which circulated of her fall. Miss Universe President Raul Rocha said in an update to Instagram that Henry was “under good care” in hospital and that she had not broken any bones.
