Miss World 2023

Miss World 2023 will be the 71st edition of the Miss World pageant, scheduled to be held in India International Convention and Expo Centre, New Delhi, India on 2 March 2024. This is the second time that the country hosted the pageant. Karolina Bielawska of Poland will crown her successor at the end of the event.
Background
Location and date
On 13 February 2023, Julia Morley, chairperson of the Miss World Organization, announced that the competition will take place in the United Arab Emirates in May 2023. "Further details to follow," Morley added, referring to the final date and the venue of the pageant.
Four months later on 8 June 2023 the Miss World Organization announced that the competition was moved to India instead of the United Arab Emirates. This is the first time that the country hosted the pageant since 1996. No clear reason was given as to why the organization changed the location of the competition, but some rumors tell about the security factors. Rumors surfaced in late August that the pageant will take place in Kashmir, but Morley denied those claims, and said that the venue is to be finalized and will be announced on a later date. On 28 September 2023 the Miss World Organization announced that the pageant will happen on 16 December 2023 at India International Convention and Expo Centre, New Delhi, India.
However, rumors have circulated that the pageant will be postponed once again to 2 March 2024 after an advisory was reportedly emailed to all national directors of the organization, and an Instagram story that Karolina Bielawska, the reigning Miss World, posted regarding the rescheduling of the pageant.
Selection of participants
Contestants from one hundred eight countries and territories have been selected to compete in the competition. Five of them are designees after the withdrawal of the original contestant in their respective countries and territories, and two selected after another national pageant was held to replace the original dethroned winner.
Replacements
Angela Tanuzi was replaced by Elona Ndrecaj as Miss World Albania 2022 due to unknown reasons. Poelano Mothisi, the first runner-up in Miss Lesotho 2021, was appointed to represent her country as the original winner Refiloe Lefothane pursued to continue her studies abroad. Daria Gapska was originally slated to represent Northern Ireland, but was replaced by Kaitlyn Clarke, the reigning titleholder, as she elapsed her reign as Miss Northern Ireland. Lucía Arellano was crowned as the new Miss World Peru 2022, replacing Jennifer Barrantes who was dethroned due to not fulfilling her obligations stipulated in her contract, according to the organization. However, Barrantes denied the claims and stated that there has been a conflict between her and the organization which caused her withdrawal. Anna Linnikova was originally slated to represent Russia, but will be replaced by her successor as she already elapsed her reign.
Ruan Yue, Miss China World 2022, was set to represent her country at Miss World. However, Yue was stripped of the titled due to "inappropriate" behavior. Yue was then replaced by Qin Zewen on 23 August 2022, where she was appointed by the pageant organizers, but was also stripped of the title for falsifying her education and employment qualifications. Due to this, an extra pageant was held in order to determine the new representative of China to Miss World. Xu Xin was declared as Miss China World 2022.
Lucy Thomson, Miss Scotland 2022, was set to represent her country at Miss World. However, Lucy was stripped of the titled due to personal reasons, she was replaced by Chelsie Allison as Miss Scotland 2023.
Debuts, returns and withdrawals
The 2023 edition will see the debut of Togo, and the returns of Aruba, Australia, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, Croatia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Greece, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Martinique, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Suriname, Thailand, and Zambia. Morocco last competed in 1968, Suriname last competed in 2012, Liberia last competed in 2017, Lebanon, Lesotho, Martinique and Zambia last competed in 2018, while the others last competed in 2019.
Léa Sevenig of Luxembourg was expected to compete in this edition. However, Sevenig confirmed that she would no longer compete in this edition due to the cancellation of her national pageant.
Contestants
As of 31 October 2023, 108 contestants have been confirmed.
Notes
References
External links
Miss World
2024 beauty pageants
Beauty pageants in India
2024 in India