Tears & tiaras
1 Miss World was founded in 1951 by TV host Eric Morley, who also started TV’s Come Dancing – the forerunner of today’s Strictly Come Dancing.
2 The first Miss World was a bikini contest and part of the Festival of Britain. The winner was Sweden’s Kiki Hakansson.
3 Miss World was first broadcast on BBC TV in 1959 and, at the show’s peak, it had 18million viewers. This year it will be shown on the London Live TV channel.
4 The first UK winner was Miss Wales Rosemarie Frankland in 1961. Other British winners include Ann Sidney in 1964, Lesley Langley in 1965 and Sarah-Jane Hutt in 1983.
5 Welsh winner Helen Morgan, crowned in 1974, was forced to resign in a row about her being an unmarried mother.
6 American winner Marjorie Wallace was stripped of her 1973 title, following a rollercoaster love life that saw her date singer Tom Jones while she was engaged to someone else. She also dated footballer George Best, who himself went on to date the 1977 winner, Sweden’s Mary Stavin.
7 In 1980, Germany’s Gabriella Brum resigned her title after just 18 hours when it emerged that she had posed naked for photos.
8 Other famous names to have competed include Irish model Rosanna Davison, who won in 2003, and US actress Halle Berry, who came sixth in 1986.
9 Venezuela and India have had the most winners – six each. In 2014, Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was awarded the title of the Most Successful Miss World of all time.
10 Feminist protesters threw flour bombs during the 1970 event and there have been a string of other protests over the years. In 2002, riots meant the ceremony had to be moved from Nigeria to London at the last minute.
11 Business graduate Vanessa Ponce is the current Miss World – the first from Mexico.
12 This year 112 contestants are taking part, including Northern Ireland’s Lauren Leckey,
Wales’s Gabriella Jukes, Scotland’s Keryn Matthew and England’s Bhasha Mukherjee.
13 They compete in categories including Sport, Talent, Top Model, Head to Head Challenge and Beauty with a Purpose.
14 The Beauty with a Purpose charity has raised a billion dollars for humanitarian projects since it was set up in 1972 by Eric’s wife Julia, who has run Miss World since his death in 2000.
15 The final will be watched by 900million people in 140 countries. Miss World 2020 will be held in Thailand, marking its 70th anniversary.