Olivia Culpo, Jeannie Mai Jenkins to host the 71st Miss Universe coronation night
It's Steve Harvey no more as Miss Universe names Olivia Culpo and Jeannie Mai Jenkins as the new hosts for this year's coronation night.
Anne Jukapong Jakrajutatip, the new owner of Miss Universe, shared the news on Instagram with the caption: "Love the Power of Feminism! I Really Love them!"
Joining them on January 14 (US time) are Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and Emmy award winning television personality Zuri Hall, who will both serve as backstage commentators.
Speaking to Variety, Culpo, a former Miss Universe herself, said she is very thankful for the organization and that she respects its "continuous evolution."
“This organization had such an impact on my life and I’m so thankful for the experiences I had with my Miss Universe family,” Culpo told Variety. “I have so much respect for the continuous evolution of the Miss Universe Organization, including the new female ownership for the first time in the company’s history.”
Mai Jenkins, meanwhile, said she's excited to return to the Miss Universe stage together with the delegates.
"I am so honored to be able to celebrate them and all the amazing changes the organization has been making over the past year to push women’s stories further worldwide,” she added.
In December 2022, Miss Universe Organization CEO Amy Emmerich said that fans should expect an all-female host in this year's pageant.
“My goal was really to make sure we led with a female lens this next go-around,” Emmerich told Variety. “We should hopefully have that to talk about soon… It was a rare opportunity to be able to kind of restart in a whole new place.”
This comes after the organization was bought in October by Thai groupJ KN Global Group PCL owned by CEO Anne Jukapong Jakrajutatip.
“The first woman to own the brand, that’s going to be a change in and of itself for 70 years,” Emmerich said. “And I think especially because of Anne’s backstory, and what she feels transformational leadership is and how she can really fight for a future borne by women a little bit more than possibly a man at IMG could. I think she came in wanting to know early on, what was the vision on how we want to shape shift the brand. I think she sees it as a year-round more than one-woman, one-night event."
The 71st Miss Universe event will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
Philippines' bet Celeste Cortesi is vying for the country's fifth Miss Universe crown.
