PAGEANT Circle

India's Harnaaz Sandhu won her country's third Miss Universe crown during the final competition of the 70th Miss Universe pageant held on Sunday, December 12 in Eilat, Israel. The 21-year-old Bollywood actress succeeds Andrea Meza of Mexico and will now move to New York City where she will live during her reign and become a spokesperson for various causes alongside the Miss Universe Organization. Former Miss Universe winners from India are Sushmita Sen (Miss Universe 1994) and Lara Dutta (Miss Universe 2000). Photos: Benjamin Askinas / Miss Universe Organization

India's Harnaaz Sandhu topped a field of some 80 contestants to be crowned the 70th Miss Universe on Sunday, December 12 at the Universe Dome in Eilat, Israel. The 21-year-old model and actress became the third Indian representative to win the coveted Miss Universe title. She succeeds Miss Universe 2020 Andrea Meza of Mexico. Nadia Ferreira of Paraguay and Lalela Mswane of South Africa were the first and second runners-up, respectively, while Valeria Ayos of Colombia and Beatrice Gomez of the Philippines completed the Top 5 finalists. Completing the Top 10 were the contestants from Aruba, Thessaly Zimmerman, France, Clémence Botino, Puerto Rico, Michelle Colón, The Bahamas, Chantel O'Brian, and the USA, Elle Smith. The contestants from Great Britain, Emma Collingridge, Japan, Juri Watanabe, Panama, Brenda Smith, Singapore, Nandita Banna, Venezuela, Luiseth Materán, and Vietnam, Nguyen Huynh Kim Duyen were the rest of the Top 16 semi-finalists. The new Miss Universe is a strong