Miss Universe 2022 to be held in January, but where?

The Miss Universe Organisation has now announced what month the 2022 global pageant will be held in, but we'll have to wait until next week to find out where it will take place. Miss Universe 2022, which was recently postponed until next year , reportedly to make way for the Fifa World Cup in December, will now take place in January. This means that it's likely two Miss Universe pageants will be held next year, with the 2023 winner being crowned later in the year. Scroll through the gallery above to see some of the Miss Universe 2022 beauty queens who have been crowned so far "I was hoping we'd announce the location this week, but we'll probably announce it next week," Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organisation, told the Philippines' ABS-CBN News on Saturday. "I'm ecstatic. This year I feel finally after all these years we'll be in a venue that will have plenty of seating, we'll be able to accommodate everyone and I feel this is our first step back," she said, referring to pandemic restrictions. The host city remains a mystery, but Shugart did give a few hints in the interview: "What I am happy to say is I know it's a location people will have fun. I've never talked to anyone who didn't want to go to this particular place. It's built for tourism, culture, food and fun." Crown Sisters, a YouTube channel with nearly 150,000 subscribers that covers major beauty pageants around the world, has speculated it will be held in New Orleans on January 15. "According to my friend and reliable source, the directors will have a Zoom meeting with Paula Shugart and Amy Emmerich on Sept 22 to confirm the following: The 71st edition of Miss Universe will take place on Sunday, January 15, 2023 at the Ernest N Morial Convention Centre in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana," the channel wrote in a description of a video announcing the details. "The preliminary competition will take place on Wednesday, January 11, and the contestants must arrive in that city on January 5 and 6, so they must take care of their diet during the holiday season. The Miss Universe Organisation will officially report this news next week when the hotel negotiations are completed and it is reported which hotel will host the contest." Last year's pageant was held on December 13, at the Universe Dome in Eilat, Israel, where India's Harnaaz Sandhu was crowned the winner. The first Miss Universe Pageant was held in Long Beach, California in 1952. It was then held in the US until 1971, before taking place for the first time internationally in Puerto Rico in 1972. Since then, it's been held in countries such as Greece, Mexico, El Salvador, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Namibia, Brazil, Russia and the Philippines. Last year was the first time it ventured to the Middle East. In the ABS-CBN News report, Shugart also responded to rumours that Miss Universe Organisation is up for sale for $20 million, according to an article that ran in the New York Post . "The only thing I can say is, I've been here for 20 years and I don't think there's been a year where I haven't heard we're up for sale ... There were a lot of wrong things in the article but I can't confirm or deny, it's not a surprise to me though." Early in August, the Miss Universe Organisation made history by introducing a major rule change for eligibility. Starting with the 72nd pageant, the annual competition will accept married women and mothers. In an internal memo seen by The National , the organisation says it has always strived to evolve with the times and the latest decision was the natural next step. "We all believe that women should have agency over their lives and that a human's personal decisions should not be a barrier to their success," the memo said. Previously, only single women aged between 18 and 28, who have never been married or had children, were allowed to apply. More than 50 countries, from the UK to Ukraine and Guatemala to Ghana, have named their representatives for the 71st Miss Universe. In the region, Evlin Khalifa was crowned Miss Universe Bahrain , becoming the second woman to take the title for the Gulf kingdom. Scroll through the gallery below to see more of Evlin Khalifa

Miss Universe 2022 to be held in January, but where?

Global pageant has been delayed until next year