# Mr Gay World

Mr. Gay World is a registered, trademarked annual international competition for gay men, established in 2009. On September 4, 2024, Eric Butter officially announced that Mr. Wayne Renzo from the Philippines has acquired the Mr. Gay World Organization. With this historic transition, Wayne Renzo is now the new owner, ushering in a new chapter for the globally celebrated brand.
The 2024 Mr Gay World Competition was held in Durham & Tyneside & Northumberland, United Kingdom on August 26, 2024. The reigning Mr Gay World is Paul Carruthers who represented Great Britain.

## History

Before there was Mr Gay World, there was IMG Mr Gay International. Brian Merriman (owner of Mr Gay Ireland) and Tore Aasheim (co-owner of Mr Gay Europe) attended the competition with the European delegation. Merriman and Aasheim decided to create their own international competition.
Brian Merriman invited Tore Aasheim, Morten Ruda (owner of Mr Gay Norway and co-owner of Mr Gay Europe) and Dean Nelson (owner of Mr Gay Canada) to Dublin, Ireland to plan a brand new international competition. They invited Eric Butter (who is the current President and co-founder of Mr Gay World and Noemi Alberto (owner of Mr Gay Philippines) to what was to become Mr Gay World.
Merriman and Ruda bowed out due to other commitments, and the ownership was divided equally between Aasheim, Nelson and Butter. Both Merriman and Ruda stayed involved in the competition as Directors responsible for finding delegates in Europe and Africa to attend the competitions.
After a while Nelson left the competition and left his shares of Mr Gay World to Eric Butter, and later Eric Butter and Tore Aasheim exchanged their shares in Mr Gay Europe and Mr Gay World respectively, making Eric Butter the President and co-founder of Mr Gay World and Tore Aasheim the sole owner of Mr Gay Europe.

## Media coverage

The event explicitly seeks to highlight discrimination against LGBTI people and provide select positive role models. A number of contestants from a number of countries has faced sanctions for their selection or competition, including Nolan Lewis from India, Taurai Zhanje from Zimbabwe, Robel Hailu from Ethiopia, former Olympian Chavdar Arsov from Bulgaria, Wendelinus Hamutenya from Namibia and Xiao Dai from China.
Mr Gay World is defined as an annual contest for gay men, seeking to establish ambassadors for LGBTQIA+ and human rights, with winners of national contests competing as delegates in a variety of categories. Mr Gay World not a beauty contest and there is no age limit. In an all-inclusive move, Mr Gay World has amended its policy to encompass the male-identifying spectrum within the LGBTQ+ community,” said the organisation in a statement on Tuesday, June 15, 2021*.

## Controversy

In 2014, Mr Gay New Zealand, Mr Gay Australia and a sponsoring skincare company all pulled out of the competition claiming 'bullying, poor living conditions, and inappropriate pressure to hook up with other contestants'. Mr Gay World replied claiming that the two contestants had been removed for alcohol abuse and rule breaking.
In 2015, the winner of the competition, Mr Gay Germany Klaus Burkart, stepped down seven months later citing “personal changes,” and was replaced by Mr Gay Hong Kong.
In 2018, Mr Gay World announced that the 2019 competition will move to South Africa from Hong Kong due to prohibition from local authorities.
In November 2021, Mr. Gay World South Africa 2021 Louw Breytenbach resigned; the title was given to South African Runner-up Bonginkosi Ndima, who then resigned in March 2022, and then Mr. Gay World Philippines 2021 Joel Rey Carcasona took over the title Mr. Gay World 2021.

## Titleholders

| Year | Country/Territory | Mr Gay World | Location | Entrants | Ref. |
| 2009 | Ireland | Max Krzyzanowski | Whistler, Canada | 19 | — |
| 2010 | South Africa | Charl Van Den Berg | Oslo, Norway | 23 | |
| 2011 | South Africa | Francois Nel | Manila, Philippines | 23 | — |
| 2012 | New Zealand | Andreas Derleth | Johannesburg, South Africa | 22 | — |
| 2013 | New Zealand | Christopher Michael Olwage | Antwerp, Belgium | 25 | — |
| 2014 | United Kingdom | Stuart Hatton | Rome, Italy | 32 | |
| 2015 | Germany | Klaus Burkart (Resigned) | Knysna, South Africa | 21 | |
| 2015 | Hong Kong | Mass Luciano (Assumed) | Knysna, South Africa | 21 | |
| 2016 | Spain | Roger Gosalbez | St. Julian's, Malta | 24 | |
| 2017 | Philippines | John Raspado | Maspalomas, Spain | 21 | |
| 2018 | Australia | Jordan Paul Bruno | Knysna, South Africa | 21 | |
| 2019 | Philippines | John Jeffrey Carlos (Completed) | Cape Town, South Africa | 24 | |
| 2019 | Spain | Francisco Alvarado (Assumed) | Cape Town, South Africa | 24 | |
| 2020 | Philippines | Leonard Kodie Macayan | South Africa | Virtual contest | 9 | |
| 2021 | South Africa | Louw Breytenbach (Resigned) | South Africa | Virtual contest | 10 | |
| 2021 | Philippines | Joel Rey Carcasona (Assumed) | South Africa | Virtual contest | 10 | |
| 2022 | Puerto Rico | José López Duvont | Cape Town, South Africa | 8 | |
| 2023 | Guam | Troy Michael Smith | Cape Town, South Africa | 11 | |
| 2024 | Great Britain | Paul Carruthers | Northumberland, United Kingdom | 11 | |

### Country/territory by number of wins

The 2020 finale was held alongside the 2021 finale, creating an Epic Finale in which two winners were crowned.
| Country/Territory | Titles | Year |
| Philippines | 4 | 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| South Africa | 3 | 2010, 2011, 2021 |
| Spain | 2 | 2016, 2019 |
| New Zealand | 2 | 2012, 2013 |
| Great Britain | 1 | 2024 |
| Guam | 1 | 2023 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | 2022 |
| Australia | 1 | 2018 |
| Germany | 1 | 2015 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 2015 |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 2014 |
| Ireland | 1 | 2009 |
* 1 2 3 4 Originally crowned 1st Runner-Up. Took over the title after the original winner completed his reign.
* 1 2 Originally crowned 1st Runner-Up. Took over the title after the original winner resigned.
* 1 2 Resigned

## Runner-up

| Year | 1st Runner-Up | 2nd Runner-Up | 3rd Runner-Up | 4th Runner-Up | 5th Runner-Up |
| 2009 | Alexis Cespedes Paraguay | Pico Velasco Michel Mexico | Ben Edwards Australia | Reece Karena New Zealand | Darren Bruce Canada |
| 2010 | Byron Adu Australia | Rick Dean Twombley Hong Kong | Xindai Muyi China | Sergio Lara Spain | Not awarded |
| 2011 | Michael Kevin Holtz United States | Israel Acevedo Spain | Leigh Charles Australia | Aaron Comis New Zealand | Not awarded |
| 2012 | Lance Weyer South Africa | Remy Frejaville France | Kevin Scott Power United States | Thom Goderie Netherlands | Not awarded |
| 2013 | Benjie Vasquez Caraig Hong Kong | Matthew Simmons United States | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2014 | Kiriakos Spanos Cyprus | Robbie Lawlor Ireland | Luis Vento Venezuela | Bridge Hudson Hong Kong | Not awarded |
| 2015 | Mass Luciano (Assumed) Hong Kong | Tomi Lappi Finland | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2016 | Chris Krauel Austria | Christian Reyes Lacsamana Philippines | Kyle Patrick Sint Maarten | Rafael Fagundes Brazil | Not awarded |
| 2017 | Cándido Arteaga Spain | Raf Van Puymbroeck Belgium | Marco Tornese Switzerland | Alexander Steyn South Africa | Not awarded |
| 2018 | Ricky Devine-White New Zealand | Samarpan Maiti India | Chen Po-Hung Taiwan | João Pedro Carvalho Gonçalves de Oliveira Portugal | Not awarded |
| 2019 | Francisco Alvarado Spain | Oliver Pusztai Hungary | Cjayudhom Samiat Thailand | Nick Van Vooren Belgium | Not awarded |
| 2020 | Marek Piekarczyk Poland | Vicente Miron Mexico | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2021 | Joel Rey Carcasona (Former) Philippines | Joshuan Aponte Puerto Rico | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2022 | Tony Ardolino United States | Max Appenroth Germany | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2023 | David Allwood United Kingdom | Dion Alexander Australia | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2024 | John Bench Ortiz Philippines | Poosit Changkaewmanee Thailand | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |