At the end 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.
The competition was the first event since
1954 not to be televised in 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.[b]
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.[6][7]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.[8][9]
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.[10] 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.[2] 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.[11][12][13]
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.
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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21]
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals
This edition marked the debut of Bhutan,[22] 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.[23] Trinidad and Tobago last competed in
2017,[24] Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, and Switzerland last competed in
2018,[25] Angola and Saint Lucia last competed in
2019, while the others last competed in
2020.[26][27][28][29] Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Romania, and Sweden withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.[30][31] 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.[32] 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.[33] 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.[34][35]
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.[39]
^Ida Hauan, the reigning
Miss Norway, withdrew several hours before the coronation night after testing positive for
COVID-19.
^The exception was the
2020 edition of the pageant, which was broadcast on cable channel
FYI when
Fox withdrew from the broadcast coverage due to uncertainties caused by the then-ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic.
At the end 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.
The competition was the first event since
1954 not to be televised in 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.[b]
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.[6][7]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.[8][9]
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.[10] 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.[2] 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.[11][12][13]
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.
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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21]
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals
This edition marked the debut of Bhutan,[22] 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.[23] Trinidad and Tobago last competed in
2017,[24] Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, and Switzerland last competed in
2018,[25] Angola and Saint Lucia last competed in
2019, while the others last competed in
2020.[26][27][28][29] Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Romania, and Sweden withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.[30][31] 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.[32] 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.[33] 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.[34][35]
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.[39]
^Ida Hauan, the reigning
Miss Norway, withdrew several hours before the coronation night after testing positive for
COVID-19.
^The exception was the
2020 edition of the pageant, which was broadcast on cable channel
FYI when
Fox withdrew from the broadcast coverage due to uncertainties caused by the then-ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic.