Sheynis Palacois of Nicaragua was crowned the 72nd Miss Universe in front of 15,000 spectators. The Nicaraguan model defeated 84 competitors in this year’s competition in San Salvador. Antonia Porsild of Thailand stood second, Moraya Wilson of Australia stood third.
For the first time, two transgender women were among the participants: Marina Machete from Portugal and Rikki Valerie Colle from the Netherlands. There was already a lot of excitement about it – there was a lot of criticism on social media. Marina Machete, one of two debutants, achieved a top 20 finish.
This is already being hotly debated online. In addition to lots of congratulations, there were also comments like, “A man – even if he’s had surgery – has no place in a Miss Pageant.”
Judges included model Halima Aden, “Queer Eye” star Carson Kressley, TikTok influencer Avni Gregg and two former Miss Universe winners, Trinidad and Tobago’s Janelle Commission (Miss Universe 1977) and France’s Iris Mittenaere (Miss Universe 2016).
In addition to transgender controversies, there were economic debates leading up to the Miss Universe pageant. The company responsible for the beauty pageant – JKN Global Group – recently filed for bankruptcy (eXXpress reports).
