Miss World

In 1951, Eric Morley organised a bikini contest as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations that he called the Festival Bikini Contest.[8] The event was popular with the press, which dubbed it "Miss World". The swimsuit competition was intended as a promotion for the bikini,[9] which had only recently been introduced to the market and was still widely regarded as immodest. When the 1951 Miss World pageant winner, Kerstin "Kiki" Hakansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, it added to the controversy.

The pageant was originally planned as a Pageant for the Festival of Britain, but Morley decided to make the Miss World pageant annual.[10][11] He registered the "Miss World" name as a trademark,[12] and all future pageants were held under that name. But because of the controversy arising from Håkansson's crowning in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened not to send delegates to future events, and the bikini was condemned by the Pope.[13] Objection to the bikini led to its replacement in all future pageants[14][15] with more modest swimwear, and from 1976 swimsuits were replaced by evening gowns for the crowning.[16] Håkansson remains the only Miss World crowned in a bikini.[12] In Miss World 2013 all participants wore a one-piece swimsuit plus a traditional sarong below the waist as a compromise with local culture.[17]

Morley announced the Miss World winners in the order No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1. This was intended to keep the tension up, and avoid the anticlimax if Nos. 2 and 3 are announced after the winner.[18]

In 1959, the BBC began to broadcast the pageant. Its popularity grew with the advent of television. During the 1960s and 1970s, Miss World was among the most watched programs of the year on British television.[19] In 1970, the contest in London was disrupted by women's liberation protesters armed with flour bombs, stink bombs, and water pistols loaded with ink.[20] The 1970 contest was also controversial when South Africa sent two contestants (one black and one white). Henceforth, South Africa was banned from the contest until apartheid was abolished. More than 18 million people watched the pageant at its peak during the late 1970s and early 1980s.[21]

In the 1980s, the pageant repositioned itself with the slogan "Beauty With a Purpose", with added tests of intelligence and personality.[22] In 1984, BBC1 controller Michael Grade announced that the corporation would cease to broadcast beauty pageants the next January, after it had shown Miss Great Britain, saying, "I believe these contests no longer merit national air time." He added, "They are an anachronism in this day and age of equality and verging on the offensive.''[23] Thames Television broadcast Miss World between 1980 and 1988, when ITV dropped it.[24][25]

During the early 1990s, mainstream television broadcasts of the event declined in popularity after it became "increasingly unfashionable" in the late 1980s. The pageant returned on satellite channel Sky One in 1997,[26][27] before moving to Channel 5 for three years (1998–2000).[21][28]

Eric Morley died in 2000, and his wife, Julia, succeeded him as chair of the Miss World organisation.[29]

The first black African Miss World winner, Agbani Darego of Nigeria, was crowned in 2001. As part of its marketing strategy, Miss World came up with a "Vote For Me" television special during that edition, featuring the delegates behind the scenes and on the beach, and allowing viewers to phone in or vote online for their favourites. It also sells broadcasters its Talent, Beach Beauty and Sports events as television specials.[30] ITV broadcast the 2001 pageant from South Africa on digital channel ITV2, with the special airing a week earlier on the main ITV channel.[31]

In 2002, the pageant was slated to host its final in Abuja, Nigeria. This choice was controversial, as a northern Nigerian woman, Amina Lawal, was awaiting death by stoning for adultery under Sharia law there, but Miss World used the publicity surrounding its presence to bring greater global awareness and action to Lawal's plight.[32][33] No British channel agreed to broadcast the event,[34] and there were objections to the contest.[35][36]

Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai attended the Miss World 2014 ceremony with her husband Abhishek Bachchan, daughter Aaradhya and mother Brinda Rai.[37] The pageant has been broadcast on local TV channel London Live since 2014.

The Miss World pageant has been the target of many controversies since its inception.

• In 1970, feminist protesters threw flour bombs during the live event at London's Royal Albert Hall, momentarily alarming the host, Bob Hope.[43][44]
• The 1973 winner, Marjorie Wallace, was stripped of her title on 8 March 1974 because she had failed to fulfill the basic requirements of the job. Miss World's organizers did not elect someone to serve in her place.[45]
• In 1976, several countries boycotted the pageant because it included both a Caucasian and an African contestant from South Africa.[46] South Africa competed for the last time in 1977, before returning in 1991 as apartheid disintegrated.[47]
• The 1980 winner, Gabriella Brum of Germany, resigned one day after winning, initially claiming her boyfriend disapproved. A few days later it emerged that she had been forced to resign after it was discovered that she had posed naked for a magazine.[48]

In the year leading up the finals in Nigeria, several European title holders lobbied their governments and the EU parliament to support Amina Lawal's cause.[49] A number of contestants followed the lead of Kathrine Sørland of Norway in boycotting the contest (despite the controversy, Sørland became a semifinalist in both the Miss World and Miss Universe contests), while others, such as Costa Rica, were instructed by their national governments and parliaments not to attend. Among the other boycotting nations were Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, Panama, Belgium and Kenya. There was further controversy over the possibly suspended participation of France and South Africa, which might or might not have been due to the boycott.[50] Lawal asked that contestants not suspend their participation in the contest, saying that it was for the good of her country and that they could, as the representative of Sweden had earlier remarked, make a much stronger case for her on the ground in Nigeria.[51]

Despite the increasing international profile the boycott was garnering in the world press, the contest proceeded in Nigeria after being rescheduled to avoid taking place during Ramadan, with many prominent nations sending delegates. Osmel Sousa of Venezuela, one of the world's most influential national directors, said, "there is no question about it [the participation of Miss Venezuela in the contest]." But the trouble did not end there. A ThisDay (Lagos, Nigeria) newspaper editorial suggesting that Muhammad would probably have chosen one of his wives from among the contestants had he been alive to see it resulted in inter-religious riots that started on 22 November in which over 200 people were killed in the city of Kaduna and many houses of worship were burned by religious zealots.[52] Because of these riots, the 2002 pageant was moved to London, following widely circulated reports that Canada's and Korea's representatives had withdrawn from the contest and returned to their respective countries out of safety concerns. A fatwa urging the beheading of the woman who wrote the offending words, Isioma Daniel, was issued in Nigeria, but was declared null and void by the relevant Saudi Arabian authorities.[53][54][55][56] Upon the pageant's return to Britain, many of the boycotting contestants chose to attend, including Miss Norway, Kathrine Sørland, who was ironically tipped in the last few days as the favourite for the crown she had previously boycotted.[57][58][59][60][61]

The eventual winner of the pageant was Azra Akın of Turkey, the first predominantly Muslim country to hold the title since Egypt in 1954.[62]

In Miss World 2013, protests by Islamic groups began a few weeks before the contest began, resulting in the pageant's finale and all pre-pageant activities being isolated to Hindu-majority Bali.[63]

Anastasia Lin, Miss World Canada, was not given a visa to travel in China and hence missed the official deadline of 20 November 2015 for entry to the 2015 pageant, and was declared persona non grata by the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa for openly criticizing China's human rights violations. The Miss World Organization later allowed her to compete at Miss World 2016.[64][65]

After the 2019 pageant, the organization chose Thailand as the host country of Miss World 2020, to be held in Phuket. But due to the spread of COVID-19, most national organizations and the Miss World organization agreed to cancel the 2020 pageant to assure the delegates' safety.

The edition was originally scheduled for the end of 2020 but postponed indefinitely due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.[66] On March 8, 2021, the date was set for December 16, 2021.[67] The threat of the Omicron variant had already been detected in some parts of the world during the pre-pageant activities, as the disease started swept across the island. On December 14, Miss World Indonesia Carla Yules tested positive for COVID-19. As a precaution, her roommate Miss World India Manasa Varanasi and five others were classified as suspected cases. Miss World Organization chair Julia Morley confirmed that the delegates were isolated and quarantined and would not be onstage for the final show if they did not produce a negative PCR test.[68][69][70][71] On December 15, the Puerto Rico Department of Health confirmed 17 positive cases for COVID-19 related to the Miss World pageant activities, including contestants and technical personnel.[72][73][74] On December 16, it was announced that Miss World Malaysia Lavanya Sivaji had tested positive for COVID-19.[71] She was required to be isolated for 10 days and not permitted onstage during the finals. The finale, originally slated for December 16, was postponed.[75] During a December 16 Puerto Rico Department of Health press conference, epidemiologist Melissa Marzán confirmed 15 staff and 23 contestant positive cases associated with Miss World. She added that pageant organizers, not the island's authorities, decided to postpone.[76] The rescheduled 70th Miss World pageant took place on March 16, 2022, at Puerto Rico's José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum.[77][78][79]

The Beauty with a Purpose is an event established in 1972 that is celebrated before the Miss World pageant.[81] It awards the contestant with the most relevant and important charity project in her nation. Since 2005 the winner automatically makes the quarterfinals. Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar is the first and only Beauty With a Purpose recipient to win Miss World.

Year	Winner	Country	Placement at Miss World
2001	Piarella Peralta	Costa Rica
2002	Nozipho Shabangu	Swaziland (now Eswatini)
2003	Denisa Kola	Albania
2004	Tonoya Anne Toyloy	Jamaica
2005	Oh Eun-young	Korea	Top 6
2006	Lamisi Mbillah	Ghana	Top 17
2007	Valeska Saab	Ecuador	Top 16
	Kayi Cheung	Hong Kong	Top 16
2008	Gabrielle Walcott	Trinidad and Tobago	2nd Runner-up
2009	Pooja Chopra	India	Top 16
2010[82]	Natasha Metto	Kenya	Top 25
2011	Astrid Yunadi	Indonesia	Top 15
	Stephanie Karikari	Ghana
2012	Vanya Mishra	India	Top 7
2013	Ishani Shrestha	Nepal	Top 10
2014[83]	Julia Gama	Brazil	Top 11
	Rafieya Husain	Guyana	Top 11
	Koyal Rana	India	Top 11
	Maria Rahajeng	Indonesia	Top 25
	Idah Nguma	Kenya	Top 11
2015	Maria Harfanti	Indonesia	2nd Runner-up
2016	Natasha Mannuela Halim	Indonesia	2nd Runner-up
2017	Manushi Chhillar	India	Miss World 2017
	Achintya Holte Nilsen	Indonesia	Top 10
	Laura Lehmann	Philippines	Top 40
	Adè van Heerden	South Africa	Top 10
	Đỗ Mỹ Linh	Vietnam	Top 40
2018[84]	Shrinkhala Khatiwada	Nepal	Top 12
2019	Anushka Shrestha	Nepal	Top 12
2021	Rehema Muthamia	England	Top 40
	Manasa Varanasi	India	Top 13
	Sharon Obara	Kenya	Top 40
	Tracy Perez	Philippines	Top 13
	Shudufhadzo Musida	South Africa	Top 40
	Shree Saini	United States	1st Runner-up

Miss World Talent is a talent or fast-track competition in which contestants show their abilities in singing, dancing, poetry, etc.[85] Introduced in Miss World 1978, the winner of the event automatically makes it into the semifinals starting 2003. The award returned at Miss World 2001.

Year	Winner	Represented	Placement at Miss World
2001	Stephanie Chase	Barbados
2002	Rebekah Revels	United States	Top 10
2003	Irina Onashvili[86]	Georgia[86]	Top 20
2004	Shermain Jeremy[87]	Antigua and Barbuda[87]	Top 15
2005	Kmisha Counts[88]	US Virgin Islands[88]	Top 15
2006	Catherine Jean Milligan[89]	Northern Ireland[89]	Top 17
2007	Irene Dwomoh[90]	Ghana[90]	Top 15
2008	Natalie Griffith[91]	Barbados	Top 15
2009	Lena Ma[92]	Canada[92]	4th Runner-up
	Mariatu Kargbo	Sierra Leone[92]	Top 16
2010	Emma Britt Waldron[93]	Ireland[94]	3rd Runner-up
2011	Gabriela Pulgar[95]	Chile [lower-alpha 1][95]	Top 20
2012	Yu Wenxia[97][98]	China[97][98]	Miss World 2012[99]
2013	Vania Larissa[100]	Indonesia[100]	Top 10
2014	Dewi Liana Seriestha[101][102]	Malaysia[102]	Top 25
2015	Lisa Punch[103][104][105]	Guyana[103][105]	Top 11
2016	Bayartsetseg Altangerel	Mongolia	Top 11
2017	Michela Galea	Malta	Top 40
2018	Kanako Date	Japan	Top 30
2019	Toni-Ann Singh	Jamaica	Miss World 2019
2021	Burte-Ujin Anu	Mongolia	Top 40

The Miss World Top Model is a modeling fast-track competition.[106] It was first held in 2004, but not in 2005–2006. It has been held since 2007; the winner of the competition automatically qualifies for the semifinals.

Year	Winner	Represented	Placement at Miss World
2004	Yessica Ramírez	Mexico	Top 15
2007	Zhang Zilin	China	Miss World 2007
2008[107]	Ksenia Sukhinova	Russia	Miss World 2008[107]
2009	Perla Beltrán	Mexico	1st Runner-up
2010[82]	Mariann Birkedal	Norway	Top 7
2011	Zhanna Zhumaliyeva	Kazakhstan	Top 15
2012	Atong Demach	South Sudan	Top 7
2013	Megan Young[108]	Philippines	Miss World 2013
2014[83]	Isidora Borovčanin	Bosnia and Herzegovina
2015[109]	Mireia Lalaguna	Spain	Miss World 2015
2016	Jing Kong	China	Top 11
2017	Ugochi Ihezue	Nigeria	Top 15
2018	Maëva Coucke	France	Top 12
2019	Nyekachi Douglas	Nigeria	Top 5
2021	Olivia Yacé	Cote d'Ivoire	2nd Runner-up

Miss World Sports or Sportswoman is a title and award given to the winner of a sports event at Miss World. It is a fast-track or preliminary event, giving the winner automatic entry into the semifinals. In 2005, there was no Miss Sports winner because it was held as a continental team competition. Starting in 2006, the individual competition returned.

Year	Winner	Represented	Placement at Miss World
2003	Nazanin Afshin-Jam	Canada	1st Runner Up
2004	Amy Guy	Wales	Top 15
2005	Asia-Pacific	Asia	Team Challenge
2006	Malgosia Majewska	Canada	Top 17
2007	Abigail "Abby" McCarry	United States	Top 15
2008	Alexandra Ívarsdóttir[107]+	Iceland[107]+	Top 15
2009	Erusa Sasaki	Japan	Top 16
2010[82]+	Lori Moore[110]+	Northern Ireland[94]+	Top 25
2011	Marianly Tejeda	Dominican Republic
2012	Sanna Jinnedal	Sweden	Top 30
2013	Jacqueline Steenbeek[111]+	Netherlands[111]+	Top 20
2014[83]+	Krista Haapalainen[112]+	Finland[112]+	Top 25
2015	Steffi Van Wyk[113][114]+	Namibia[113][114]+
2016	Natalia Short	Cook Islands	Top 20
2017	Aletxa Mueses	Dominican Republic	Top 40
2018	Marisa Butler	United States	Top 30
2019	Rikkiya Brathwaite	British Virgin Islands	Top 40
2021	Karolina Vidales	Mexico	Top 6

Miss World Multimedia or Social Media Award is a title and award given to the winner of a Multimedia Challenge. It is a fast-track or preliminary event, giving the winner automatic entry into the semifinals. The score is based on the contestant's likes on Mobstar and Facebook.

Year	Winner	Represented	Placement at Miss World
2012	Vanya Mishra	India	Top 7
2013	Navneet Dhillon	India	Top 20
2014	Elizabeth Safrit	United States	2nd Runner-up
2015	Hillarie Parungao	Philippines	Top 11
2016	Catriona Gray	Philippines	Top 5
2017	Enkhjin Tseveendash	Mongolia	Top 15
2018	Shrinkhala Khatiwada	Nepal	Top 12
2019	Anushka Shrestha	Nepal	Top 12
2021	Olivia Yacé	Ivory Coast	2nd Runner-up

Miss World Beach Beauty was a swimsuit or fast-track competition.[107] The Beach Beauty event started in 2003, when the Miss World Organization first held fast-track events to automatically give a semifinal spot to some of the delegates. This event allowed the Miss World delegates (over 100) to have a chance to be in the semifinals. The winner made the semifinals automatically. The Beach Beauty event showcased different swimsuits designed by Miss World 1975, Wilnelia Merced. In 2015, the organisation eliminated the swimsuit competition from the pageant.[115]

Year	Winner	Represented	Placement at Miss World
2003	Rosanna Davison[86]	Ireland[86]	Miss World 2003[116]
2004	Nancy Randall[117]	United States	2nd Runner-up
2005	Yulia Ivanova[118]	Russia[118]	Top 15
2006	Federica Guzmán[119]	Venezuela[119]	Top 17
2007	Ada De La Cruz[120]	Dominican Republic[120]	Top 16
2008	Anagabriela Espinoza[107]	Mexico	Top 15
2009	Kaiane Aldorino[121]	Gibraltar[121]	Miss World 2009[122]
2010[82]	Yara Lasanta	Puerto Rico[94]	Top 25
2011	Alize Lily Mounter[123]	England	Top 7
2012	Sophie Moulds[124]	Wales	1st Runner-up
2013	Sancler Frantz[125][126]	Brazil[125][126]	Top 6
2014[83]	Olivia Asplund[112]	Sweden	Top 25