Miss World 2026: Joheirry Mola Dominguez from the Dominican Republic won the 73rd Miss World 2026 title, beating Spain’s Elisabeth Reynés as the first runner-up and Malaysia’s Taanusiya Chetty as second runner-up. She was crowned by her predecessor, Opal Suchata Chuangsri (Thailand), the first contestant from her country to win the 72nd edition of the pageant held last year.

The Miss World page describes the newly-crowned winner as a “dedicated educator, community advocate, and communicator”. “Joheirry holds a degree in Business Management and Administration from Universidad Iberoamericana. As founder and president of Voices of Tomorrow, Joheirry expands English education for children and youth in vulnerable communities. She teaches Literature and Social Studies in English, inspiring critical thinking and holistic development. As a correspondent for Univision New York’s Ventana a Quisqueya, Joheirry highlights Dominican culture, social issues, and community stories. A Goya Gives Ambassador and professional model, Joheirry is driven by human connection, empathy, and the values instilled by her deeply united family.”

Her personal motto” “The greatest gift you can offer is the opportunity that you once needed yourself in order to grow, move forward, and transform your life.”

India’s Nikita Porwal missed out a spot in the Top 20 of the competition.

The road to the Miss World crown began with the Top 40, which gradually narrowed the competition to the Top 20, Top 12, and Top 6 before the new Miss World and two runners-up were crowned.

Joheirry Mola crowned by former Miss World Opal

She beat Malaysia, Vietnam, Eritrea, Spain, and South Africa to win the crown.

Notably, the next year’s host country will be Tanzania.

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Nikita Porwal from India

From India, Nikita Porwal from Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, participated in this year’s Miss World pageant after being crowned Femina Miss India World 2024 two years ago in Mumbai. She began her career as a TV anchor and later moved into acting and theatre. Over the years, Porwal has performed in more than 60 plays and even wrote a 250-page play titled Krishna Leela. She also appeared in a feature film that has been showcased at international festivals and will soon be released in India.

In her introduction video shared on social media, Porwal revealed her life motto: “Be a life that matters, a loss that’s felt” and added that she harbours dreams of working with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali someday.

The actor had also credited her journey and growth for inspiring her to be the best version of herself. “When I look back and see how far I’ve come, I realise I have the power to shape my future,” she’d added, which further motivates her to keep pushing forward.

Joheirry Mola won Miss World 2026

Is it the 73rd or 75th Miss World this year?

The 73rd Miss World 2026, held in Vietnam, celebrated its 75th anniversary this year. It sounds confusing, but stay with us.

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Since its launch in 1951 as a beauty pageant in the UK, Miss World has crowned a winner every year—until COVID-19 caused a global pandemic and the organisers decided to pause. The Miss World 2020 pageant was cancelled entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 70th Miss World 2021 was held in Puerto Rico, on 16 March 2022. No event was held in 2022 due to pandemic-related scheduling delays. The 71st edition of the Miss World pageant was held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on 9 March 2024.

According to the official Miss World website, the pageant began in 1951 and quickly became an annual international event. Despite facing criticism and controversies, particularly from feminist groups, it continued to grow in popularity through the 20th century, expanded globally, and introduced the “Beauty with a Purpose” initiative to focus on contestants’ charity work.

The website also mentions that the modern era has seen efforts to rebrand the peageant as empowering for women, emphasising personal achievements and social contributions over physical appearance. Today, Miss World is one of the most recognised beauty contests, promoting diverse representations of beauty and humanitarian causes.

Stay tuned for Miss Universe in Puerto Rico

Pageant lovers, don’t be disheartened. This November, Kaziah Liz Mejo from India is set to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, to be held in Puerto Rico. All eyes are on the 19 year old law student, who beat Vaishnavi Gannesh from Tamil Nadu and Anushri Satavlekar from Gujarat to become the first from Kerala to win the Miss Universe India title on August 25.