Iris Mittenaere is one name that is making waves these days. The beauty from France ended the 64 years long drought of France at the Miss Universe pageant by winning the 65th edition. On January 30’ 2017, Iris was crowned as the winner of Miss Universe 2016 by the outgoing queen Pia Wurtzbach.

The national director of Miss France Organisation Sylvie Tellier expressed her joy and considers Iris Mittenaere’s win as a gift for the country. “It’s a gift for me, for France. I’ve been waiting for that for 64 years. I am so proud of her." According to Tellier, Mittenaere’s victory is well-deserved and her hard work is something which is inspiring as she exerted a lot of effort in her training leading up to the competition.

Tellier also revealed that in French pageants, contestants are not allowed to go under the knife, which means that all French women are natural beauty and they do not support cosmetic surgery. "Nothing in nose, boobs, nothing. It’s not allowed. Iris worked a lot for this pageant. She [went into] sports, she worked a lot for the final question. She is very smart because she is [studying] dentistry," Tellier said. She also added that the competition this year was very stiff, and it was “very difficult to win”.

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The National Director also hopes that Mitttenare would have a remarkable reign. In her first official interview as Miss Universe, Iris also said, “I really want to be a good Miss Universe. I really want to meet you all. I love you all." The French beauty queen will soon be moving to New York where she will fulfil her duties as Miss Universe.

Miss Universe 2016 finale was held on 30th January 2017. Iris defeated 85 other contestants to clinch the title.