26-year-old Andrea Meza from Mexico crowned 69th Miss Universe

Florida: And the 69th Miss Universe is Miss Mexico, Andrea Meza. She was crowned by the former Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa at the event held in Florida. The first runner up is Brazil's Julia Gama while Peru's Janick Maceta is the second runner-up. Whereas India's Adline Castelino and Dominican Republic's Kimberly Perez became third runner-up and fourth runner-up respectively.

During the question and answer round, the question asked to Andrea was "If you were the leader of your country, how would you have handled COVID with the COVID-19 pandemic?"

To which she answered, "I believe there's not a perfect way to handle this harsh situation such as COVID-19. However, I believe that what I would have done was create the lockdown, even before everything was that big because we lost so many lives. And we cannot afford it, we have to take care of our people. That's why I would have taken care of them since the beginning."

The new Miss Universe is Mexico!!!! #MISSUNIVERSE pic.twitter.com/Mmb6l7tK8I

— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) May 17, 2021

In her final statement, Meza was asked to talk about beauty standards. She said, "We live in a society that more and more is more advanced. As we have advanced as a society we've also advanced with stereotypes. Nowadays, beauty is the only way we look. For me, beauty radiates not only in our spirit but in our hearts and the way that we conduct ourselves. Never permit someone to tell you that you're not valuable."

In her final statement, Meza was asked to talk about beauty standards. She said, "We live in a society that more and more is more advanced. As we have advanced as a society we've also advanced with stereotypes. Nowadays, beauty is the only way we look. For me, beauty radiates not only in our spirit but in our hearts and the way that we conduct ourselves. Never permit someone to tell you that you're not valuable."

In 2019, Zozibini Tunzi became the first black woman from South Africa to win the Miss Universe crown.