Harnaaz Sandhu - Miss Universe 2021

Q: What advice would you give to young women watching on how to deal with the pressures they face today?

A: I think the biggest pressure the youth of today is facing is to believe in themselves. To know that you are unique and that's what makes you beautiful, stop comparing yourselves with others, and let's talk about more important things that's happening worldwide. I think this is what you need to understand. Come out, speak for yourself, because you are the leader of your life. You are the voice of your own life. I believe in myself and that's why I'm standing here today. Thank you.

Lara Dutta - Miss Universe 2000

Q: Right now, there is a protest going on right outside here calling the Miss Universe Pageant disrespectful of women. Convince them they are wrong.

A: I think pageants like the Miss Universe pageant gives us young women a platform to foray in the fields that we want to and forge ahead, be it entrepreneurship, be it the armed force, be it politics. It gives us a platform to voice our choices and opinions and makes us strong, independent that we are today.

Sushmita Sen - Miss Universe 1994

Q: What for you is the essence of being a woman?

A: Just being a woman is a gift of God that all of us must appreciate. The origin of a child is a mother, who is a woman. She shows a man what caring, sharing and loving is all about. That’s the essence of being a woman.

Zozibini Tunzi - Miss Universe 2019

Q: She was asked about teaching young girls

A: I think the most important thing we should be teaching young girls, today is leadership. It is something which has been lacking in young girls and women for a very long time and not because we don't want to, but because of what society has labelled women to be. I think we are the most powerful beings on the earth, and that we should be given every opportunity. And that is what we should be teaching young girls, to take up space. Nothing is as important as taking up space in society and cementing yourself.

Mpule Kwelagope - Miss Universe 1999

Q: What a contestant should do if she falls pregnant while running for Miss Universe?

A: Personally, I think Miss Universe is a symbol of a woman who celebrates her femininity and I believe if she got pregnant, you should not end the title. But, I believe that as a woman she should celebrate her femininity.