Miss Universe 2020: Andrea Meza of Mexico crowned as the winner; Miss India finishes third

Andrea Meza of Mexico was crowned the 69th Miss Universe on May 16, 2021. Interestingly, this marks the third time Mexico bagged the title. She was crowned by the former Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa at the event, which was held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Meanwhile, the first runner-up is Brazil's Julia Gama and Peru's Janick Maceta is the second runner-up. On the other hand, India's Adline Castelino and Dominican Republic's Kimberly Perez became third runner-up and fourth runner-up respectively.

More about 'Miss Universe 2020 winner'

Interestingly, during the question and answer round, the question asked to Andrea was "If you were the leader of your country, how would you have handled COVID with the COVID-19 pandemic?". In her response, Andrea said, "I believe there's not a perfect way to handle this harsh situation such as COVID-19. However, I believe that what I would have done was create the lockdown, even before everything was that big because we lost so many lives. And we cannot afford it, we have to take care of our people. That's why I would have taken care of them since the beginning". 

Meanwhile, for her final statement, Meza was asked to talk about beauty standards. For which, Meza asserted, "We live in a society that more and more is more advanced. As we have advanced as a society we've also advanced with stereotypes. Nowadays, beauty is the only way we look. For me, beauty radiates not only in our spirit but in our hearts and the way that we conduct ourselves. Never permit someone to tell you that you're not valuable".

As mentioned earlier, in 2019, Zozibini Tunzi became the first black woman from South Africa to win the Miss Universe crown. Because of COVID-19-related delays, she is the longest-reigning Miss Universe in the history of the competition. Before the crowning of Miss Universe 2020, Tunzi took her final walk on stage prior to relinquishing her crown. There were 74 delegates in the mix this year. The selection committee was made up of executive Sheryl Adkins-Green, actor Arden Cho, businesswoman Christine Duffy, TV host Keltie Knight, Miss Universe 1997 Brook Lee, entrepreneur Deepica Mutyala, businesswoman Tatyana Orozco, and Miss Universe 2006 Zuleyka Rivera.

IMAGE: MISS UNIVERSE TWITTER