Miss Universe 2026

Announcement

On 23 September 2025, the Miss Universe Organization announced that the 75th edition of the pageant will be held in the United States territory of Puerto Rico, marking its fourth hosting of the pageant, after 1972, 2001, and 2002.^[1][2][3] Jenniffer González-Colón, the governor of Puerto Rico, confirmed the selection and announced that her administration had agreed to allocate a total of $9 million in public funds to finance its hosting of the competition, which would be handled by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and Discover Puerto Rico.^[4][5]

Negotiations

On December 18, Willianette Robles Cancel, the executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, suspended its disbursements to Miss Universe and called for a meeting between their contingents to discuss "several pending issues and new requirements for holding the pageant".^[6][7] The suspension came after the pageant faced a number of issues, including irregularities in the outcome of the previous edition and the Mexican government launching an investigation on Miss Universe president Raúl Rocha on drugs, fuel, and arms trafficking charges.^[8][7][9] By March 2026, the contingents had reached an agreement to continue organizing the pageant in the territory.^[10] Among the conditions imposed by the Puerto Rican government in the agreement was for Rocha to withdraw his involvement in organizing the edition to "safeguard Puerto Rico's image".^[11] By April 2026, the Puerto Rican government completed its disbursements to Miss Universe.^[9][12]

Venues and schedule

The organizers designated the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as the venue for the preliminary and final rounds of the pageant.^[13][14][15] On 22 July, the organizers announced the schedule for the contests, setting the national costume show for 21 November and the preliminary competition for the day after.^[16] The finals are set to take place on 24 November, hours before the finals of Miss International 2026; the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that this scheduling marks the first time the coronation shows of two Big Four beauty pageants are held within hours of each other.^[17]

Replacements

Xinying Zhu of China withdrew due to age restrictions and was replaced by Weiyi Chen.^[33][34][35] Anara Esengeldieva of Kyrgyzstan was replaced by Medina Ermekova for unknown reasons.^[36] Eunike Lioe of Suriname was replaced by Maruschka Sahiboe due to a change in the license holder.^[37]

Debuts and returns

This edition will mark the debuts of Saint Martin and Uganda.^[38][39] Returning countries for this edition included Tunisia, which last competed in 1971; Réunion in 1986;^[40] Austria in 2017;^[41] Sierra Leone in 2019;^[42] Albania, Cameroon, Germany, Iceland, Jamaica, Kenya, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, and Suriname in 2024.^{[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]}

Matoma Condé of Guinea and Zoulahatou Amadou of Niger withdrew from the competition.^{[53][54][55][56]}

Broadcast

The pageant will be broadcast in part or whole on Telemundo, Roku, and TV Azteca.^[57]