Miss Universe 2016: Miss France Iris Mittenaere wins the title

Manila: Miss France Iris Mittenaere beat Miss Haiti and Miss Columbia to bag the Miss Universe title. Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach crowned Iris Mittenaere as the winner of the 2016 edition of the pageant in Philippines.

Check out the winning moment here:

We have our Miss Universe 2016! Congratulations Miss France. #MissUniverseOnZCafe pic.twitter.com/zvvuJXBsQ8 — Zee Cafe (@ZeeCafe) 30 January 2017

Eighty six beautiful women participated in the contest on Monday in Philippines.

Last year`s host, Emmy Award winner Steve Harvey -- who shot to notoriety for initially announcing the wrong winner -- returned for this year`s three-hour pageant.

India`s Roshmitha Harimurthy could not make it to the list of top 13 and was out of the competition.

She is a multilingual student at Mount Carmel College pursuing her Master`s Degree in International Business. With an eagerness to help others, Harimurthy decided to share her knowledge by volunteering as a teacher at Thanisandra Government Primary School in association with EFSA (Eco Foundation for Sustainable Alternatives).

It`s been more than 15 years since India won the Miss Universe title. Lara Dutta, now an actress, was crowned back in 2000.

The judging panel this year includes Cynthia Bailey, Mickey Boardman, Leila Lopes, Dayanara Torres, Francine LeFrak along with ex-Miss Universe Sushmita Sen, who won her title in Manila only.

She looked no less than a diva when Steve Harvey announced her as one of the judges and she flaunted her positive smile in golden outfit even if Indian girl couldn`t make it to the next round.

(With agency inputs)