Maya Aboul Hosn crowned Miss Universe Lebanon 2023

The beauty queen will attempt to be the first Miss Lebanon to win Miss Universe since Georgina Rizk in 1971

Maya Aboul Hosn will represent Lebanon in this year's Miss Universe competition. Photo: Maya Aboul Hosn / Instagram

Maya Aboul Hosn has been crowned Miss Universe Lebanon 2023.

The radio and television personality, 25, hails from Btekhnay and is the host of LBCI Lebanon. She was the first runner-up in last year’s Miss Lebanon 2022 competition held in Beirut. She will now head to El Salvador to compete in the Miss Universe 2023 pageant on November 18.

"Embarking on an incredible journey to represent Lebanon in the Miss Universe competition,” she wrote on social media. "With love and pride for my hometown, let's shine on the global stage.”

Hosn takes over for Yasmina Zaytoun, the journalism student who was crowned Miss Universe Lebanon 2022. Last year’s event was the first pageant to take place in the country since 2018.

Lebanon has won the pageant once with Georgina Rizk being crowned Miss Universe 1971. She beat 59 other contestants and became the first woman from the Arab world to win the title. The country’s last placement was in 1973 with Marcelle Herro's Top 12 finish.

Hosn joins Mohra Tantawy – who was earlier in the week crowed Miss Universe Egypt – and Miss Universe Bahrain Lujane Yacoub, thus far as the only Arab competitors in the pageant.

Last year, the Miss Universe Organisation made the historic decision to no longer limit the contest to single women and, for the first time in 71 years, applicants can be single, married, divorced or mothers. There is also no age limit for Miss Universe contestants from this year.