France's Iris Mittenaere crowned Miss Universe 2017

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 11 February 2017, 5:45 IST

Miss France Iris Mittenaere won the new Miss Universe title during the 65th edition of the pageant held in the Philippines. Miss Haiti Raquel Pelissier and Andrea Tovar from Colombia emerged as the first and second runner-up.

Iris, 24, is a Parisian native, currently pursuing a degree in dental surgery. She plans to use her Miss Universe platform to advocate for dental and oral hygiene. Out of the 86 contestants in the finals, Iris survived the evening gown, swimsuit and numerous Q&A rounds.

She takes over from the until-now reigning Miss Universe, Pia Wurtzbach from Philippines.

Beauty, grace, confidence, intelligence. Those are the qualities embodied by your 65th #MissUniverse, Iris Mittenaere. pic.twitter.com/ps9CWxfuM7
— Iris Mittenaere (@MissUniverse) January 30, 2017

India's Roshmitha Harimurthy failed to advance to the top 13 of the contest. The competitions other top 13 finalists were from Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Phillippines, Canada, Brazil, Thailand and USA.

Sushmita Sen, who won the pageant in 1994, was one of the judges of the contest and was introduced at the event as "Bollywood superstar, former Miss Universe and champion of women's rights."

The panel of judges also included "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Cynthia Bailey, Paper magazines Mickey Boardman and producer Francine LeFrak, as well as Miss Universes 2011 and 1993.

Pageant host Steve Harvey opened the show and referring to his last year's massive goof-up he said, "One thing I learned in life, when you make a mistake, you gotta keep on moving forward man, that's all."

Harvey had wrongly announced Miss Columbia as the winner last time in Las Vegas when the pageant won actually won by Pia Wurtzbach.

--With PTI inputs

First published: 30 January 2017, 11:28 IST