Miss Universe 2022 was the 71st Miss Universe pageant, held at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States on 14 January 2023. This was the first edition held under the ownership of JKN Global Group.
At the conclusion of the event, Harnaaz Sandhu of India crowned R'Bonney Gabriel of the United States as Miss Universe 2022, marking the ninth victory of the United States in the pageant. R'Bonney Gabriel was the oldest entrant to be crowned, surpassing Andrea Meza of Mexico in 2020.
Contestants from eighty-three countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The competition was hosted by Jeannie Mai and Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo; Culpo last served as host during Miss Universe 2020, while Mai last served as backstage correspondent during Miss Universe 2014. Miss Universe 2018, Catriona Gray and Zuri Hall served as backstage correspondents.
The competition was the first event since 1954 not to be televised on any major American television network, but it would air on the streaming provider The Roku Channel as the official broadcaster of the show for the first time.
Background Location and date
In September 2022, Puerto Rican newspaper El Vocero reported that an email had been sent to national directors stating that the 2022 edition of Miss Universe would be held in the first quarter of 2023, due to the potential clash of dates with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November and December 2022. El Vocero also reported that Los Angeles, Miami, and New Orleans in the United States and Nha Trang in Vietnam were seen as potential host cities.
Later in September, Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart stated in an interview with ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs that the pageant would be held in January 2023, confirming that the reason for the postponement was to avoid a potential conflict with the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Shugart additionally confirmed that the host city would likely be announced during the following week. On 19 September, the MUO announced that the pageant would be held on 14 January 2023, at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. This will be the fourth time in the pageant's history that the event is held after the relative calendar year has ended; this previously occurred during the 2014, 2016, and 2020 editions, when they all took place the following year.
Selection of participants Contestants from eighty-three countries and territories were selected to compete in the competition. Eighteen of these delegates were appointed to their positions after being a runner-up of their national pageant or being selected through a casting process.
Tashi Choden of Bhutan became the second openly lesbian to compete in Miss Universe, after Swe Zin Htet of Myanmar in 2019.
Replacements Chloe Powery-Doxey, the first runner-up of Miss Universe Cayman Islands 2022, was appointed to represent the Cayman Islands after the original winner, Tiffany Conolly, was alleged to have committed an assault. Floriane Bascou, the first runner-up of Miss France 2022, was appointed to represent France after the original winner, Diane Leyre, chose not to compete due to the lack of time for preparation, Leyre would eventually compete the following year. Camila Sanabria, the first runner-up of Miss Bolivia 2022, was appointed to represent Bolivia after the original winner, Fernanda Pavisic, was dethroned for mocking other Miss Universe candidates' headshots on her Instagram stories.
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals This edition marked the debut of Bhutan, and the returns of Angola, Belize, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. Seychelles previously competed in 1995, making this edition its first time competing after an absence of twenty-seven years. Trinidad and Tobago last competed in 2017, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, and Switzerland in 2018, Angola and Saint Lucia in 2019, while the others last competed in 2020. Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Romania, and Sweden withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate. Diana Tashimbetova was originally to represent Kazakhstan, but was dethroned and not replaced by the Kazakhstani license holder after a series of disputes between Tashimbetova and the license holder regarding the lack of support Tashimbetova received by them for her participation at Miss Universe. Balsam Hussein had been announced as the representative of Iraq in Miss Universe, but due to franchise matter, she decided to withdraw from the competition. Latvia was expected to compete for the first time since 2006, but their chosen delegate Kate Alexeeva withdrew from the competition after testing positive for COVID-19 prior to her departure. Ida Anette Hauan represented Norway, and participated of all pageant phases, but withdrew from the competition a few hours before the final telecast after testing positive for COVID-19.
Results
Placements Placement ContestantMiss Universe 2022 – R'Bonney Gabriel1st Runner-Up – Amanda Dudamel2nd Runner-Up – Andreína MartínezTop 5 – Gabriëla dos Santos – Ashley CariñoTop 16 – Monique Riley – Amelia Tu – María Fernanda Aristizábal – Mideline Phelizor – Divita Rai – Payengxa Lor § – Alessia Rovegno – Telma Madeira – Ndavi Nokeri – Alicia Faubel – Tya Jané Ramey § – Voted into the Top 16 by viewers
Special awards Major Awards Award ContestantBest National Costume – Viktoria ApanasenkoFan Vote Winner - Payengxa LorMiss Congeniality – Sofía Depassier – Maxine Gruppetta
Minor/sponsor Awards Award ContestantSpirit Carnival Awards by Carnival Cruise Line – Viktoria ApanasenkoSocial Impact Award by Invisi Smart – Anna Sueangam-iamSwimsuit Cape Vote – Ngọc Châu Nguyễn
Pageant Format The Miss Universe Organization introduced several specific changes to the format for this edition. Initially, it was speculated that the semifinalists would return to twenty, similar to the number of semifinalists between 2018 and 2019. However, due to the limited telecast time of final event, the number of semifinalists was retained to sixteen — the same number of semifinalists in 2021. The results of the preliminary competition — which consisted of the swimsuit competition, the evening gown competition, and the closed-door interview determined the first fifteen semifinalists who advanced at the first cut. The internet voting was also used, with fans being able to vote for another delegate to advance into the semifinals. The sixteen semifinalists competed in both the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and were to be narrowed down to five afterwards. The five finalists competed in the question and answer round, and the final three were chosen. The final speech portion returned, after which Miss Universe 2022 and her two runners-up were announced.
Selection committee Ximena Navarrete – Miss Universe 2010 from Mexico Big Freedia – American rapper and performer credited with helping popularize bounce music Mara Martin – American model and co-founder of Vyral Media PR Wendy Fitzwilliam – Miss Universe 1998 from Trinidad and Tobago Emily Austin – American actress, sports journalist, model and social media influencer Olivia Quido – Filipino-Chinese CEO and founder of O Skin Med Spa Myrka Dellanos – American television and radio host, journalist, author and socialite Sweta Patel – Indian vice president of Growth Marketing & Merchandising at Roku Olivia Jordan – Miss USA 2015 from Oklahoma (only as preliminary judge) Kathleen Ventrella – Puerto Rican chief marketing officer of ImpactWayv (only as preliminary judge)
Contestants Eighty-three contestants competed for the title.
Country/Territory Contestant Age Hometown Albania 22 Durrës Angola Swelia António 25 Luanda Argentina Bárbara Cabrera 26 Buenos Aires Armenia Kristina Ayanian 25 Yerevan Aruba Kiara Arends 24 Oranjestad Australia Monique Riley 27 Sydney Bahamas Angel Cartwright 28 Long Island Bahrain Evlin Khalifa 24 Riffa Belgium Chayenne van Aarle 23 Antwerp Belize Ashley Lightburn 26 Belize City Bhutan Tashi Choden 24 Wangdue Phodrang Bolivia Camila Sanabria 28 Santa Cruz Brazil Mia Mamede 27 Vitória British Virgin Islands Lia Claxton 19 Tortola Bulgaria Kristina Plamenova 26 Byala Slatina Cambodia Manita Hang 24 Phnom Penh Cameroon Monalisa Mouketey 26 Buea Canada Amelia Tu 21 Vancouver Cayman Islands Chloe Powery-Doxey 25 George Town Chile Sofía Depassier 24 Santiago China Sichen Jiang 26 Shanghai Colombia María Fernanda Aristizábal 25 Armenia Costa Rica María Fernanda RodríguezQuesada Croatia Arijana Podgajski 20 Krapina Curaçao Gabriëla dos Santos Willemstad Czech Republic Sára Mikulenková Valašské Mezirící Dominican Republic Andreína Martínez 25 Santiago Ecuador Nayelhi González 26 Esmeraldas El Salvador Alejandra Guajardo Cabañas Equatorial Guinea Alba Isabel Obama 21 Mbini Finland Petra Hämäläinen 26 Savonlinna France Floriane Bascou 20 Le Lamentin Germany Soraya Kohlmann 24 Leipzig Ghana Engracia Mofuman 27 Kumasi Great Britain Noky Simbani 26 Derby Greece Korina Emmanouilidou 22 Kozani Guatemala Ivana Batchelor Quetzaltenango Haiti Mideline Phelizor 27 Port-au-Prince Honduras Rebeca Rodríguez 20 San Pedro Sula Iceland 18 Reykjavík India Divita Rai 25 Mangaluru Indonesia Laksmi De-Neefe Suardana 26 Ubud Italy Virginia Stablum 24 Trento Jamaica Toshami Calvin 26 Saint Thomas Japan Marybelen Sakamoto 24 Chiba Kosovo Roksana Ibrahimi Pristina Kyrgyzstan Altynai Botoyarova 18 Bishkek Laos Payengxa Lor 21 Vientiane Lebanon Yasmina Zaytoun 20 Kfarchouba Malaysia Lesley Cheam 27 Semenyih Malta Maxine Gruppetta 22 St. Julian's Mauritius Alexandrine Belle-Étoile 26 Curepipe Mexico Irma Miranda Myanmar Zar Li Moe 21 Bhamo Namibia Cassia Sharpley 23 Windhoek Nepal Sophiya Bhujel 27 Kathmandu Netherlands Ona Moody 25 Amsterdam Nicaragua Norma Huembes 24 San Marcos Nigeria Hannah Iribhogbe 21 Edo Panama Solaris Barba 23 Chitré Paraguay Lia Ashmore 27 Villarrica Peru Alessia Rovegno 24 Lima Philippines Celeste Cortesi 25 Pasay Poland Aleksandra Klepaczka 23 Łódź Portugal Telma Madeira Porto Puerto Rico Ashley Cariño 28 Fajardo Russia Anna Linnikova 22 Orenburg Saint Lucia Sheris Paul 27 Castries Seychelles Gabriella Gonthier 24 Mahé Singapore Carissa Yap 22 Singapore Slovakia Karolína Michalčíková 24 Trenčín South Africa Ndavi Nokeri 23 Tzaneen South KoreaHanna Kim28Seoul Spain Alicia Faubel 26 Alicante Switzerland Alia Guindi 19 Valais Thailand Anna Sueangam-iam 24 Bangkok Trinidad and Tobago Tya Jané Ramey 25 Arouca Turkey Aleyna Şirin 21 Istanbul Ukraine Viktoria Apanasenko 28 Kyiv United States R'Bonney Gabriel Houston Uruguay Carla Romero 25 Montevideo Venezuela Amanda Dudamel 23 Mérida Vietnam Ngọc Châu Nguyễn 28 Tây Ninh
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