Photo from Miss Universe
Cebu City, Philippines—Miss South Africa Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss Universe 2019 on Monday, December 9, 2019, Philippine time, at the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Tunzi bested 89 other contenders for the crown in this prestigious beauty pageant.
First runner up was Miss Puerto Rico Madison Anderson while second runner-up was Mexico’s Sofia Aragon.
South Africa’s last Miss Universe crown was in 2017 when Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters won the crown. They aimed for a back-to-back wins in 2018 but Tamarayn Green lost to the Philippines’ Catriona Gray.
South Africa, thus, has been in the top 2 in the past three years now. It won the crown in 2017, finished first runner-up in 2018, and won the crown this year.
The Philippines’ Gazini Christiana Ganados, the beauty queen from Cebu representing the Philippines, was called as one of the Top 20 semifinalists but failed to advance as part of the Top 10.
Read: The Philippines’ Gazini Ganados bows out of Miss Universe 2019
Read: Philippines lands as Top 20 semi-finalists
The Top 10 finalists were USA, Colombia, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Peru, Iceland, France, Indonesia, Thailand, and Mexico.
That list was trimmed down to five. These were Mexico, Thailand, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and South Africa.
All judges of the pageant were female, which included former Miss Universe winner Paulina Vega from Colombia. /bmjo