On November 24th, 2026, the Miss Universe pageant will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Contestants from 130 countries and territories are expected. 2026 is the diamond anniversary of the pageant, which began in 1952 as a local swimsuit competition in Long Beach, California.
Why Miss Universe?
Miss America 1951 would not agree to pose in a swimsuit designed by Catalina Swimwear. Yolande Betbez, Miss Alabama, considered the Miss America contest a serious scholarship opportunity and felt that it would be unseemly for her to wear a bathing suit in promotional appearances. It turned out that she had not signed the contract requiring Miss America to pose in Catalina swimsuits for a year, so she was able to refuse.
Catalina Swimwear pulled their sponsorship of the Miss America pageant and established their own competing pageants: Miss USA and Miss Universe. Miss Universe was an international competition, but Catalina allowed territories to send contestants from the beginning. Marilia Levy Bernal was the first contestant from Puerto Rico in 1952. Among 30 contestants, Miss Finland was the winner.
Miss USA does not allow competitors from the territories, though it does allow contestants from Washington, D.C., along with the 50 states. In 1952, there were only 48 states. Alaska and Hawaii were both territories, and therefore ineligible for Miss USA. Alaska sent the first Miss Alaska to the Miss USA pageant in 1959, the year they became a state. Hawaii fielded the first Miss Hawaii contestant for Miss USA in 1962, following their 1959 admission to the United States. Miss Hawaii won the Miss USA pageant that year.
Why does Puerto Rico get to compete in international beauty pageants?
The Miss Universe pageant belongs to JKN Global Group. When the rules were first written, the contest belonged to Catalina Swimwear, and it has since belonged to a number of different people and organizations, including Donald Trump. Whoever owns the contest gets to make the rules. Catalina Swimwear decided, in 1952 when they created the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants, that territories could not compete in the USA contest, but could compete in the international pageant. Since Miss USA sends a contestant to the Miss Universe pageant, it had to be one or the other. If JNK Global Group chooses to change the rules, the rules will change.
Congress, Puerto Rico, and other entities involved in decisions about statehood have no say in who gets to compete in international contests. If JKN Global Group were to changes the rules governing whether U.S. territories can compete in its pageants, Puerto Rico could get cut. Similarly, if JKN sells the pageant to another company, the new owner will get to decide whether or not territories can compete with the country contestants. Likewise, Congress cannot promise that Puerto Rico will be able to continue to compete in Miss Universe pageants after statehood because Congress does not make decisions for private companies.
If the owners of the pageant were to decide that a state of Puerto Rico would have to compete with the other 50 states in the Miss USA pageant, the Puerto Rico candidate could still win. After all, Puerto Rico has won Miss Universe five times so far:
- 1970: Marisol Malaret
- 1985: Deborah Carthy-Deu
- 1993: Dayanara Torres
- 2001: Denisse Quiñones
- 2006: Zuleyka Rivera
This history suggests that Puerto Rico would continue to have good chances in the Miss USA pageant. Miss USA has taken the Miss Universe crown nine times, so Miss Puerto Rico would still have a good chance at Miss Universe.
Could Puerto Rico host the Miss Universe pageant as a state?
Certainly, Puerto Rico could still host the pageant as a state, just as California did in 1952.
The post Miss Universe 2026 Will Be Held in Puerto Rico appeared first on PUERTO RICO REPORT.
