She succeeded Isabella Menin of Brazil after besting 69 other candidates for the title.

Her runners-up include Ni Ni Lin Eain of Myanmar, Maria Alejandra Lopez of Colombia, Sthephanie Marie of United States of America, and Le Hoang Phuong of Vietnam. 

Sixty-eight grand beauties from around the world showcased their colorful and extravagant costumes on Friday, October 20 at the Phú Thọ Indoor Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The judges picked 10 costumes while the remaining 10 were from the online voting conducted through the official Facebook page of MGI.

Meet the Top 20:

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Una publicación compartida de 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 (@missgrandinternational)

Top 10 by vote

Bolivia – Victoria Olguín

Cambodia – Phoem Sreyno

Guatemala – Raschel Paz

Indonesia – Ritassya Wellgreat

Myanmar – Ni Ni Lin Eain

Panama – Julia Leong

Peru – Luciana Fuster

Philippines – Nikki de Moura

Thailand – Thaweeporn Phingchamrat

Vietnam – Le Hoang Phuong

Top 10 by judges

Ecuador – Andrea Ojeda Fernández

Honduras – Britthany Marroquín

India – Arshina Sumbul

Japan – Yayoi Machida

Nigeria – Boma Dokubo

Paraguay – Maelia Salcines

Puerto Rico – Cristina Ramos

Russia – Anastasiia Volkonskaia

Trinidad and Tobago – Rebekah Hislop

Türkiye – Beyhan Kubra

Photos: Miss Grand International / Instagram

A 19-year-old former Miss Teen World was elected the winner.

Gugulethu Mayisela, 19-year-old model from Johannesburg, Gauteng, was crowned Miss Grand South Africa 2023 in the eighth edition of the Miss Grand South Africa beauty pageant, held on July 22, 2023, at the Atterbury Theatre in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria. Her hobbies include baking, reading and karate.

She is the first ever Black Miss Grand South Africa. She was Miss Teen World South Africa 2022 and also the winner of Miss Teen World 2022 in Ecuador.

The grand final of the pageant was hosted by a Pretoria-based model, Tumelo Matela, and former Mister Global South Africa, Ruan Scheepers.

Gugulethu will represent South Africa at Miss Grand International 2023 to be held in Vietnam in October 2023.

“The biggest challenge my generation is going through is creating a sustainable future for all. Education plays a fundamental role to ensure that the following generations have the necessary tools for a better future”, were the words of the winner of the contest during the round of questions.

Luciana will be in charge of representing Peru in the Miss Grand International pageant that will be held on October 25 of this year in Vietnam.

The 28-year-old model and industrial engineer from Pereira bested over 20 other competitors to win the national title.

“As an industrial engineer, working with our Colombian indigenous communities, working with people with disabilities like my uncle who has Down syndrome, I want to inspire the world and tell everyone that we are educated people, that we are talented,” she answered during the Q&A portion.

“We’re not just coffee, emerald, beautiful women, and landscapes. We have so much potential to give to the world and we are already changing the course of our nation,” she added.

Yuri Rey from Meta and Valentina Cárdenas from Zona Andina were named the first and second runners-up, respectively.

No stranger to pageantry, the new Miss Grand Colombia represented Risaralda at Miss Universe Colombia 2021 where she placed first runner-up to the winner Valeria Ayos.

María Alejandra succeeds last year’s titleholder and Miss Grand International 2022 fifth runner-up, Priscilla Londoño. She will now prepare to represent Colombia at Miss Grand International 2023 in Vietnam this October.

The Miss Grand Colombia 2023 final was attended by reigning Miss Grand International from Brazil, Isabella Menin, with Miss Grand International Vice President Teresa Chaivisut.

The 27-year-old model from the southern province of Chumphon bested 76 other contestants to win the national title. She succeeded last year’s winner and Miss Grand International 2022 first runner-up Engfa Waraha.

Tia Li Taveepanichpan of Phuket was named first runner-up while Pimjira Charoenluk of Bangkok, Ajcharee Srisuk of Loei, and Ketwalee Phlobdee of Phrae were the second, third, fourth runners-up, respectively.

Rounding out the Top 11 finalists and were announced fifth runners-up include Pattaravadee Boonmesup of Chiang Rai, Tantawan Jitteelak of Lopburi, Kamonwarai Prajakrattanakul of Nakhon Phanom, Rina Chatamanchai of Nakhon Ratchasima, Kodchakorn Kontrakoon of Nong Bua Lamphu, and Vanessa Nattacha Wenk of Saraburi.

The rest of the Top 20 were from Kalasin, Praifah Tongrae, Krabi, Pacharada Fusuamakawa, Lampang, Manika Thippanet, Mae Hong Son, Chonticha Kaewbutdee, Nakhon Pathom, Wichayanard Narad, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Supaporn Naksuwan, Pathum Thani, Sophie Siriyakorn Trau, Phetchabun, Worawalun Putklang, and Songkhla, Karnruethai Tassabut.

No stranger to pageantry, the new Miss Grand Thailand was third runner-up when she first joined the competition in 2017 while representing Chantaburi. She was later appointed to compete in Miss United Continents 2017 in Ecuador where also placed third runner-up and bagged the best in national costume award.

Thaweeporn will now prepare to represent Thailand at Miss Grand International 2023 to be held in Vietnam this October.

Hosted by Thai-Australian singer, actor, and TV presenter Matthew Deane, this year’s event marked the 10th edition of the Miss Grand Thailand pageant.

The 25-year-old bested 67 other candidates during the live coronation night held at Sentul International Convention Center in West Java, Indonesia on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

During the final round, Isabelle was asked the question: “If you had an opportunity to send a message to President Vladimir Putin, what would you say?” She said: “War will only create wounds and what we can do is start taking real action even if it is small, carry out diplomacy and understand each other. Because together, war and wounds will disappear,” replied Menin, impressing the judges and winning the coveted title.

Isabella has had a long history in pageantry. Before winning the title, she had won the Miss Teen International 2013 in Costa Rica.

Menin is of Brazilian and Italian descent and can speak Portuguese, Spanish, English, French and Italian. The pageant winner apparently loves acting, singing, and photography. She founded an organization named Beyond Project, which supports associations for people with disabilities in Brazil.

Isabella’s court includes: 

• 1st runner-up: Engfa Waraha (Thailand)
• 2nd runner-up: Andina Julie (Indonesia)
• 3rd runner-up: Luiseth Materan (Venezuela)
• 4th runner-up: Mariana Beckova (Czech Republic)

Together with the winning queens, Isabelle will stay in Bangkok throughout her reign to promote awareness about the “Stop the War and Violence” campaign.

Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien of Vietnam has won the Miss Grand International 2021 title, one of the top six major international beauty pageants for women.

Tien, 23, finished ahead of 59 contestants at the grand finale held Saturday evening in Bangkok, Thailand.

Tien beat the Ecuador contestant in a Top 2 final-question round, where they were asked why they think should win the title.

“I have to be honest that I didn’t think I would be standing here. I’m very nervous right now… I’m ready to work. I’m ready to be in Thailand for one year,” the Vietnamese contestant said.

Earlier that night, she had been asked: “With the current world situation there are many problems such as those related to human rights and economy, if you choose one person to discuss the problem in order to make the change, who will you choose and why?”

Tien said she would talk to the woman who invented the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

“She doesn’t need money from her invention and I’m grateful for that. Sometimes you just need to work and don’t care what you get.”

Her answer was applauded by the judges and the audience.

Tien is the first Vietnamese contestant to win the Miss Grand International title.

The contest’s organizers also awarded first and second runners-up titles to the contestants from Ecuador and Brazil.

Miss Grand International was founded in 2013. It’s one of the six major global beauty contests held annually, the others being: Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Earth and Miss Supranational.