Andrea Meza of Mexico wins The Miss Universe title.
The Miss Universe competition made its return since the emergence of COVID-19, with Andrea Meza of Mexico winning the title.
The Chihuahua native beat 73 contestants at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Meza is the third Mexican woman to win the pageant.
On May 16, 2021, after a year and a half since the last edition of the pageant, the competition resumed making Zozibini Tunzi, Miss Universe 2019, the longest-reigning Miss Universe.
There was no absence of COVID-related questions during the Q&A portion of the pageant. Andrea Meza's question dealt with how she would have handled the COVID-19 pandemic as a leader of her country, to which she answered,
"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."
The Miss Universe official Instagram page regularly posted photos throughout the pageant week, including images of the participants wearing masks while rehearsing on stage.
The traditional hand embrace between the 1st runner-up and the winner was not seen in this year's pageant as social distancing measures were enforced.
According to the Philippine Star, Meza's contract with the Miss Universe Organization will include a year-long salary in addition to the signature $5 million crown from Mouawad Jewelry.
Andrea Meza is expected to use her platform to raise awareness for different causes as her predecessors have done so for issues such as HIV/AIDS and childhood poverty.
The newly crowned beauty queen will reside in a New York City apartment during her reign.
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About the Author:
Melissa Duran is a university student in South Florida. She immigrated from El Salvador at age 5 and became a naturalized citizen at age 11. While a Hillary Clinton fan during the beginning of her political journey, Melissa found herself walking away from the Democrat Party upon doing her own individual research and came to realization of her support for conservative ideals. She became a staunch advocate for President Donald J. Trump and the pro-free speech, pro-life movement. During the 2020 presidential election season, Melissa worked for Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4) organization. Aside from her native Spanish, she is fluent in English, and has a limited working proficiency in Portuguese and French.