Miss Universe 2016 Winners: What You Need to Know about These Beautiful Ladies

Confidently beautiful with a heart, these women just proved how sophisticated, elegant, fabulous, and smart they are in the recently concluded Miss Universe 2016. The event was held on January 29, 201, in Manila, Philippines.

Out of 86 attractive candidates from all over the world, only one deserves to wear the crown and be Miss Universe 2016. From the top 13, down to top 9 then from 6 finalists to the pageant’s top 3, Miss France – Iris Mittenaere – bagged the title and just made her country proud.

To highlight beauty, wit, grace, and wisdom, let’s meet the top 3 finalists. Let’s get to know these lovely girls more as they try to inspire other people and continue to make a difference not just as beauty queens but as professionals in their own chosen fields.

“The sky’s the limit. It’s just whether or not you want to reach for the sky.” — Miss USA Deshauna Barber

Iris Mittenaere, Miss France

Taku Sanada/Shutterstock

Born in Lille in the Nord-Pas de Calais region in northern France, the reigning Miss Universe 2016 is currently pursuing a degree in Dental Surgery and already in her fifth year. Being passionate about dental and oral care, she wanted to initiate awareness campaign for oral hygiene and strengthen it by taking it all around the world.

A certified jet setter and an extreme sports enthusiast, Mittenaere enjoys skydiving, bungee jumping, and hang gliding. “Tandem skydiving over my region of northern France was an incredible experience,” she shared. Being a fan of extreme sports, she once competed in Ninja Warrior France.

Raquel Pelissier, Miss Haiti

Not expecting to be second in the competition, Miss Universe 2016 First Runner-up Raquel Pelissier said that so many opportunities come her way. “But my priority right now is to finish my master’s degree,” the 25-year-old from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti said in an interview. “I just have to present my thesis… on the regeneration of the optic nerve, the project to cure blindness that I’m working on.”

According to Morning News USA, the Miss Universe First Runner-Up speaks four languages apart from English: French, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and German. And when she was asked about her favorite part of the pageant, she said it was answering the last question on when she felt she had failed and what she had learned, “because I felt like they discovered why I’m here.”

This multi-talented beauty queen said she was “happy to be the first runner-up” to Iris Mittenaere of France, with whom she shared a chaperone. “I was happy for her. I would be happy for anyone of us, because we started this competition together,” said Pelissier. “I’m sure she’s going to be a great Miss Universe.”

Andrea Tovar, Miss Colombia

The 23-year-old Industrial Design and Photo Production graduate, who stands at 5’8, ranked third in the Miss Universe 2016 pageant. She also shared the highlights of her stay in the Philippines for this prestigious competition. For one, she expressed how much she loves the country, its people, the warm welcome, the food, and the beautiful places they’ve been to.

“I love her. I love [you], my little honey girl. She is amazing,” said Tovar when asked about the reigning Miss Universe 2016, Iris Mittenaere (Miss France). “God had something special for me. I do accept my position.”

This Colombian model made the pageant more memorable when she gave a casual and hilarious remark when the pageant host Steve Harvey asked her, “How do people in Colombia feel about Steve Harvey?”

“You want the truth?” she quipped. “No, just lie to me,” he jokingly responded. “They hated you a little, but I love you, and I forgive you. To err is human,” Tovar said gracefully.

The competition’s top 13 finalists were Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Colombia, Philippines, Canada, Brazil, France, Haiti, Thailand, and USA.

Congratulations, ladies.

Here’s a glimpse to the question that was asked to the three finalists and Miss France’s winning answer:

“Name something over the course of your life that you failed at, and tell us what you learned from that experience.”

Miss France, through her interpreter, answered, “I failed several times in my life. So I thought that I failed the first time that I went out on a casting because my name wasn’t on the list. And the very next day, I found that I was in a new book. So I think that when you fail, you have to be elevated and that you have to try again, and keep going.” “If tonight, I am not one of the winners, I will still have the great honor of being one of the three finalists. So I think if I have failed before, but for me, this is a great first opportunity,” she continued.

“If tonight, I am not one of the winners, I will still have the great honor of being one of the three finalists. So I think if I have failed before, but for me, this is a great first opportunity,” she continued.