Miss Iris Mittenaere of France is the Miss Universe for 2016. After weeks of build-up and a busy morning in Manila, she impressed the judges and pleased the crowd as she proved herself a worthy successor after our very own Pia Alonzo-Wurtzbach.
Miss Iris Mittenaere breezed through the swimsuit and the top nine and six rounds.
The clincher was the answer to her question in the final round, “Name something over the course that you failed at and tell us what you learned.” “I failed several times in my life… When you fail you have to be elevated and you have keep going. If tonight I will not be the winner I am still honored that I’m still one of the three finalists. For me this is a great opportunity,” she answered.
The second runner-up is Miss Colombia while Miss Haiti came in as first runner-up.
Held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, the 65th Universe Pageant proved to be as exciting as ever with 86 contestants, performances by Flo Rida and Boys II Men, and red carpet commentary by YouTube sensation Bretman Rock. Finals judges included former beauty queens Dayanara Torres, Sushmita Sen, and Leila Lopes along with Paper Magazine editor Mickey Boardman, TV star Cynthia Bailey, and social entrpreneur Francine LeFrank.
Congratulations, Iris Mittenaere! We look forward to what you’ll be doing this year as reigning queen.
Photo courtesy of Iris Mittenaere’s Instagram account
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