(Miss France Iris Mittenaere (R) is crowned the new Miss Universe by Former Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach (L) during the Miss Universe pageant at the Mall of Asia Arena on January 30, 2017. Photo credits: Ted Aljibe/AFP)
The new Miss Universe is Miss France Iris Mittenaere.
During the question and answer portion for the Final 3 contestants, which was on how to overcome failures, Mittenaere answered, “I think when you fail, you have to elevate yourself and try again.”
Earlier, during the question and answer part for the Top 6, Miss France was asked about her thoughts on refugees.
She said, “countries have the right to open and close their borders. In Europe, we have open borders. We want to have the biggest exchange of people. Open borders allow us to travel more in the world.”
The first runner up is Miss Haiti Raquel Palissier.
The second runner up is Miss Colombia Andrea Tovar.
Prior to the announcement, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach ended her reign through a grand walk on stage.
Her message to the new Miss Universe is, “fasten your seatbelt.”
She also said, once the reign of the new Miss Universe is over, she will have gained a deeper sense of maturity.
She added, “sa mga kababayan ko, thank you so much!”
Pia received a rousing applause from the audience.
Philippines’ candidate to this year’s pageant Maxine Medina made it to the Top 6.
She was asked what development in the last 10 years made a mark on her.
Maxine replied by talking about bringing all people in the world together.
“We are here. As one nation, we are all together,” she said.
Just before the final announcement, host Steve Harvey told the person who handed him the name of the winner, “this has got to be right. If this happens again, you will not leave the Philippines.”
And just before he read the content of the paper, Pia handed him eyeglasses to help him read.
The crowd roared in laughter.
Towards the end, Harvey said, “I got it right!”