Miss Universe 2023 will be the 72nd Miss Universe pageant, to be held at the National Gymnasium in San Salvador, El Salvador on 18 November 2023. R'Bonney Gabriel of the United States will crown her successor at the end of the event.
Background
Location and date
On 14 January 2023 during the Miss Universe 2022 pageant Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele announced that this edition will be held in El Salvador in late 2023. On 27 July 2023 the Miss Universe Organization announced that the pageant will happen on 18 November 2023. The last time that the country hosted the pageant was in 1975.
Selection of participants
Contestants from eighty-six countries and territories have been selected to compete. Five of these delegates were appointed to the position after being runners-up in their national pageant, or being chosen through a casting process.
For the first time in sixty-six years, the Miss Universe Organization will allow married women and women with children to compete once again. Rikkie Kollé of the Netherlands and Marina Machete of Portugal will be the second and third transgender women respectfully to compete at Miss Universe, after Ángela Ponce of Spain in 2018, while Camila Avella of Colombia and Michelle Cohn of Guatemala will be the first married women and mothers to compete in the competition after the Miss Universe Organization lifted the rule of mothers not being eligible to compete.
Replacements
Maya Turdalieva was appointed to represent Kyrgyzstan after Diami Almazbekova, the supposedly original representative of Kyrgyzstan, decided to withdraw from the competition for unknown reasons. Maya Turdalieva was also replaced by a newer delegate, Akylai Kalberdieva for unknown reasons. Namuunzul Batmagnai, the second runner-up of Miss Universe Mongolia 2023, was appointed to represent Mongolia after the original winner, Nominzul Zandangiin was said to not be able to compete at Miss Universe.
Debuts, returns and withdrawals
This edition will mark the debut of Pakistan; and the returns of Denmark, Egypt, Guyana, Hungary, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mongolia, Norway, and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe last competed in 2001; Latvia last competed in 2006; Guyana last competed in 2017; Egypt and Mongolia last competed in 2019; meanwhile the others last competed in 2021. Armenia, Belize, Bhutan, Ghana, Haiti, Seychelles, Turkey, and Uruguay withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.
Controversies
Seven contestants of the Miss Universe Indonesia 2023 pageant filed complaints with the police, regarding incidents of sexual harassment from the pageant organizers. These complaints were made after the contestants underwent a "body check", where contestants were instructed to remove their clothes and undergarments in front of half a dozen people, both men and women, inside a cramped room, despite being told that this was a fitting session for their pageant clothing. One contestant alleged that she was coerced into doing multiple poses and was made to open her legs while standing, and five of the contestants alleged that they were photographed without their consent while being naked. An investigation was launched by the Indonesian government and the Miss Universe Organization, which led to the decision to sever ties with PT Capella Swastika Karya, the beauty company that runs the Miss Universe Indonesia pageant, and Poppy Capella, the organization's national director.
Pageant
Format
The internet voting will be used again in this edition, with fans being able to vote for another delegate to advance into the semifinals.
Contestants
Eighty-six contestants will compete for the title.