The Miss World final was postponed just hours before broadcast from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico due to positive COVID cases putting on pause the Philippines' strong campaign for its second crown.
The final show will be rescheduled "within the next 90 days" from the capital San Juan, the Miss World Organization said. "Additional positive cases" were reeported on the morning of the Thursday evening broadcast (Friday morning in Manila), forcing the postponement.
Contestants and staff will return to their home countries once cleared by Puerto Rican health officials, Miss World said.
“We are very much looking forward to the return of our contestants, (who we have grown to know and love), to compete for the Miss World crown," said Miss World Ltd CEO Julia Morley, CEO of Miss World Ltd.
Miss World Philippines Tracy Maureen Perez has a sure slot in the semis after placing in the preliminaries -- top 5 in the Beauty with a Purpose round for her maternal health advocacy and top 8 in head-to-head interviews.
Megan Young in 2013 won the Philippines' first and only Miss World crown so far.
On Monday, rival Miss Universe crowned its 70th winner, Harnaaz Sandhu in the second of its two editions to be held in 2021 after skipping a live show in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Miss World has not crowned a new winner since its 69th queen, Jamaica's Toni Ann Singh, in 2019.
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