Iris Mittenaere Crowned Miss World

Iris Mittenaere Crowned Miss World

Miss France Iris Mittenaere, crowned Miss World in the just concluded 65th pageant held in Manila, Philippines.

The 23-year-old dental student also a model beat 85 other beauties around the world to take the title from Pia Wurtzbach of the Philippines at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila.

In the final question to the top three finalists, the candidate were asked to cite a failure in their life and explain what they learned from the down fall. 

She said “I’ve failed several times in my life,” Mittenaere said without thinking but added that “when you fail, you have to be elevated and you have to try again and keep going  … I have failed before but for me this is the great first opportunity.”

Raquel Pelissier, A 25 years old Miss Haiti came in as the second, while Miss Colombia Andrea Tovar, 23, was placed the third. 

Mittenaere from the small town of Lille in northern France said in reply to a final question from pageant host Steve Harvey that she would be honoured if she just landed among the three finalists, but was visibly stunned when she was announced the winner among the field of 86 contestants.

She  was astonished and put her hands on her face as the outgoing winner from the Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, crowned her.

The Nigerian representative, Unoaku Anyadike, winner of the 2015 edition of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) pageant, did not make the cut.

In her profile, she said that she would “advocate for dental and oral hygiene” if she takes home the crown.

Miss Haiti,  25 year-old Raquel Pelissier, the runner-up was a  survivor of the devastating 2010 earthquake that destroyed her hometown.“I survived the earthquake,” Pelissier said in reply to the same question, citing the quake the Haiti government estimated to have killed more than 300,000 people and displaced more than 1.5 million others.

“I felt I was failing myself because I was not living my dreams … But I chose to be a very positive person, and learned a great lesson from it because if I am here today, it is because I am living my dreams.”

As he closed the ceremony, the American comedian host declared: “This is Steve Harvey, I got it right,” referring in jest to his mistaken announcement of Miss Colombia as the winner in the last pageant in Las Vegas more than a year ago that sparked an uproar.