Dressed in a sequined gown, 24-year-old dental surgery student Iris Mittenaere beat 12 other finalists to take the crown. First and second runner-ups were Miss Haiti (Raquel Pelissier) and Miss Colombia (Andrea Tovar) re.
“This sash is not only a sash,” said Mittenaere, who is from Northern France, in a Miss Universe interview after the pageant. “This is something to help people, to understand people.”
The top finalists hailed from Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Colombia, Phillippines, Canada, Brazil, France, Haiti, Thailand and the U.S.
The annual pageant was held on Monday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. Host Steve Harvey joked on the show that he got the winner right this year, after getting it wrong last year.