Miss Universe 2024 has crowned its winner: Victoria Kjær Theilvig of Denmark, the first Dane to ever win the competition.
The 21-year-old contestant, an animal protection advocate who works in the diamond selling business, beat out Miss Nigeria at the end of 73rd edition of the competition in Mexico City, Mexico. Meanwhile, Miss Mexico placed third.
It was the first time a Danish contestant has won Miss Universe. She accepted the tiara from reigning titleholder Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua.
The pageant was held in the Mexico City Arena, an indoor venue with a capacity for 20,000 people. Supporters inside shouted and waved flags from countries around the world. The event was hosted by Mario López; Olivia Culpo, Miss Universe 2012; presenter Zuri Hall; and Catriona Gray, Miss Universe 2018. Organizers said that there were more than 120 contestants.
The ceremony began with 131 mariachi musicians, and singer Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas playing “Mexicana,” a song created by Emilio Estefan for the contest. This year, some countries were represented for the first time, such as Belarus, Eritrea, Guinea, Macau, Maldives, Moldova, and Uzbekistan.
Theilvig was among the final five contestants who faced a question-and-answer round on a variety of topics, including leadership and resilience. When asked how she would live differently if nobody would judge her, Theilvig told the judges she wouldn’t change anything, saying: “I live by each day.”
Chidimma Adetshina of Nigeria placed runner-up, while Maria Fernanda Beltran of Mexico placed third in the competition. Suchata Chuangsri of Thailand and Ileana Marquez Pedroza of Venezuela followed. In fact, 28-year-old Pedroza made history as the first mother to place in the top five in the competition, after Miss Universe recently made several “inclusive” changes to its selection process.
This year’s Miss Universe pageant comes six months after former Miss USA Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava both abdicated their titles amid accusations of unprofessional behavior, workplace bullying, and harassment from management. The Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants are owned by the Miss Universe Organisation (MUO).
Following the accusations of bullying, Miss USA said in a statement: “We are committed to fostering a healthy, communicative and supportive environment for all contestants, state titleholders, national titleholders and staff.”
Additional reporting from AP
