MANILA, Philippines — Miss Mexico Andrea Meza wins the 69th Miss Universe held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, USA earlier today. Other winners are:
1st runner-up: Julia Gama, 27, Brazil
2nd runner-up: Janick Maceta del Castillo, 27, Peru
3rd runner-up: Adline Castelino, 22, India
4th runner-up: Kimberly Jimenez, 24, Dominican Republic
Special awards winners:
- Best national costume: (Thuzar Wint Lwin, Myanmar)
- Impact award: (Lenka Nemer, Bolivia)
- Carnival spirit Award: (Kimberly Jiménez, Dominican Republic)
At the final question and answer portion, Andrea was asked: "If you were the leader of your country. How would you have handled COVID-19 pandemic?"
Meza: "I believe there's not a perfect way to handle this for situations, such as COVID-19. However, I believe that what I would have done was create a lockdown even before everything was that big. Because we lost so many lives and we cannot afford that, we have to take care of our people. That's why I would have taken care of them since the beginning."
Related: FULL TEXT: Miss Universe 2020 Q&A portion
The 26-year-old model succeeds Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi, who has the longest reign in the pageant's history due to the pandemic.
The Philippines’ Rabiya Mateo failed to enter the Top 10.
Rabiya was called first in the third batch of the Top 21, which was announced in groups of seven since 7 is considered lucky in many countries, but her name was last called at the swimsuit competition. — Video from Miss Universe Organization via iQiyi, screenshot