
Miss World pageant is arguably one of the oldest beauty contests in the world. The pageant was established in 1951 by a British an advertising agent named Eric Morley. It was initially envisaged as a one-off event, but it turned out to be so popular that it became an annual event.
Susana Duijm, Venezuela
Penelope Coelen, South Africa
Ann Sidney, United Kingdom
Madeline Hartog-Bel, Peru
Jennifer Hosten, Grenada
Cindy Breakspeare, Jamaica
Sarah-Jane Hutt, United Kingdom
Linda Pétursdóttir, Iceland
Aishwarya Rai, India
Priyanka Chopra, India
In 2001, Darego was crowned Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria. Contrary to popular belief, Darego did not replace Valerie Peterside after the latter was dethroned, as she had won Miss Nigeria. A few months later she was a contestant at Miss Universe, and became the first Nigerian to place among the top 10 semi-finalists, finishing seventh overall. She was the only one to wear a maillot as opposed to a bikini during the swimsuit competition.
In November that year, she became the first native African to claim the Miss World title.
Azra Akın, Turkey
Rosanna Davison, Ireland
Ksenia Sukhinova, Russia
Megan Young, Philippines
Rolene Strauss, South Africa