How the Age Limit Removal in Miss Universe is a Game Changer

by Alexa Villano
September 15, 2023

In an interview, Miss Universe 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel announced that the organization has removed its age limit.

The world of beauty pageants continues to evolve. After allowing married women and those with children to join the pageant, the Miss Universe Organization announced its age limit removal starting this 2024.

Miss Universe 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel confirmed the news in an interview with WWD.

“What I love about Miss Universe is that they are always out first in line, looking for ways they can be more inclusive and better live up to the platform that they’ve designed for us,” R’Bonney told WWD.

“It’s a bold group of women in charge over here, and you know what, a lot of people tend to follow what we do — it’s nice to be a standard-bearer, and I’m proud that we get to do this.”

R’Bonney, who won the title at 28, said that age should not be an issue and should not define who should be Miss Universe.

Following the announcement, the organization also released a statement about the new change they are implementing next year.

“Starting then, every adult woman in the world will be eligible to compete in Miss Universe.”

How the Age Limit Removal in Miss Universe is a Game Changer

The Miss Universe is changing

The Miss Universe Organization has yet to give more details about the removal of the age limit. But it has become a game-changer so far.

In 2022, the Miss Universe Organization, which is now under the management of Thai businesswoman Anne Jakrajutatip, has allowed women who are single parents and those married with kids to join. Early this year, Miss Universe Philippines allowed three married women and a single mom to compete.

Miss Universe Philippines’ sister pageant the Miss Philippines has also recently announced it was accepting married women and those with kids.

So far, two candidates who are moms will compete in the Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador. They are Colombia’s Camila Avella and Guatemala’s Michelle Cohn.

It’s unclear if other international pageants will make changes to their rules in the future.