Harnaaz Sandhu made history last year when she brought Miss Universe crown to India after 21 long years becoming the third winner from her country and also the first ever Sikh woman to be crowned Miss Universe. Now, as Harnaaz Sandhu prepares to crown her successor on 14th January 2023, she can take back a year of hardwork, smiles and such a memorable journey.
Sandhu relocated to New York, like the previous winners, where the Miss Universe Organization has been headquartered, after her win in 2021. With the new ownership, however, there are two headquarters now – Thailand and New York.
Harnaaz’s journey was inspirational in so many ways; from being bashed about her gained weight during to the reign to making sure her advocacy reaches the masses despite all the problems she faced, she emerged victorious. Harnaaz was always inspired by her mother who is a gynaecologist and became the voice of women's empowerment right from her early pageant days.
Specifically, Harnaaz has worked towards menstrual equity to help reduce the stigma surrounding the topic, influence policies that are made in the direction and promote access to sanitary products. During her reign, she visited 25 cities in nine countries to help spread awareness. While on a trip to her own home country in December, Harnaaz launched a coalition for menstrual equity comprising of 11 non-profit organizations which aims to reach five million women in 200 locations by 2025.
While Harnaaz has tried to do good with her title, her work wasn’t made easy. She became a target of online trolls she walked the runway at the Lakme Fashion Week in April last year. Being fat shamed for having celiac disease, which she revealed later, ofcourse even the Miss Universes do not have the easiest lives.
"I'm one of those individuals who was first bullied that 'she's too skinny' and now they bully me saying she's fat. I am one of the courageous and confident girls who believes even if I'm fat, even if I'm thin, it's my body, I love myself”, Harnaaz quoted in an interview, showing the way of how to give back to people who sit behind screens to bash people down.
The bright side, however, saw Harnaaz attend glamorous events around the world, as well as give high-profile appearances. With her title of Miss Universe 2022, she has given more than 50 speeches at various events across the world, from India to the Philippines to South Africa. In August, she stole the show at the Miss South Africa pageant. Two weeks later, Sandhu crowned her successor Divita Rai in India. She was also spotted at New York Fashion Week in September and at the Gotham Awards in November. She also attended The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and taught a few Bollywood dance moves.
Now that Harnaaz’s reign has ended as she has crowned R'Bonney Gabriel the new Miss Universe, being an actor is definitely on her list. She has appeared in several Punjabi films and TV shows but has dreams of becoming a full-fledged movie star. Harnaaz was crowned Miss Universe 2021 at the finale of the 70th edition of Miss Universe held in December 2021 in Israel. It has, indeed, been a roller-coaster of a ride for Harnaaz, one that she will cherish for the rest of her life which has only just begun!