Anne Jakrajutatip says she won’t allow other titles in Miss Universe national pageants
MUO owner Anne Jakrajutatip. Image: Instagram/@annejkn.official
Just days after the Miss Universe Philippines (MUPh) organization announced the 40 candidates who will compete for its upcoming edition, Anne Jakrajutatip has prohibited the Miss Universe franchise holders from sending candidates to other international pageants.
The Thai business mogul, who currently owns the Miss Universe Organization (MUO), announced that she won’t allow other international titles to be involved with local franchises under the MUO, as seen in a video uploaded by established beauty pageant platform Missosology on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
“[The Miss Universe Organization] prefers to have just one stage for one beauty pageant brand,” Jakrajutatip began, at what appeared to be an event held at the Mulia Resort in Bali, Indonesia, captured on video by Missossology, an online beauty pageant magazine. “No other [beauty pageant] brands [can] be involved on the same stage.”
Jakrajutatip firmly noted that countries who are sending their respective bets to the Miss Universe pageant must only focus on one international title.
“The winner goes to Miss Universe. The first runner-up, you go to this. The second runner-up, you go to that. I respect the work in the past 20 to 30 years. I admire what you have done, but this is the principle of the company and the organization,” she said.
The MUO owner also stressed that national pageants should put Miss Universe as a “priority,” although she didn’t mention if the rule will be applied to its upcoming 2023 edition in El Salvador.
“We must gain respect and we must be the first priority,” she added.
Reactions of pageant fans appear to be mixed, as seen in the comments section of Missosology’s post, with some calling out the MUO for the sudden change.
Image: Screengrab from Facebook/Missosology
“[MUPh] is safe as there is only one winner, the runners-up are sent lang to other minor pageants. [This will be] problematic for other countries that still have multi-title [national] pageant formats,” one JP Eduarte Andaquig said.
“There should also be a rule that MISS UNIVERSE WINNER should not be joined by runners up or finalists during international travels,” another Herbert Eamon Gregorio Bacani pointed out.
Bacani’s comment is made in reference to Miss Universe 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel’s Asian tour, where she is currently joined by Jakrajutatip, second runner-up Andreína Martínez of Dominican Republic, and top five finalist Gabriëla Dos Santos of Curacao.
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Earlier this month, the MUPh organization revealed that three titles will be up for grabs although they have yet to announce it to the public. Despite this, pageant observers guessed that Miss Charm International and Miss Supranational will also be awarded to the winning candidates.
The noncompeting Miss Universe Philippines – Tourism and Miss Universe Philippines – Charity, on the other hand, will remain in the upcoming 2023 edition.
The MUPh organization has yet to issue a statement following Jakrajutatip’s announcement, as of this writing. EDV
