Miss Nicaragua wins 2023 Miss Universe

Nicaragua’s Sheynnis Palacios has been crowned Miss Universe 2023 at the 72nd annual beauty pageant held in San Salvador last night – making history as the first delegate from Nicaragua to win the title

In addition to Sheynnis’ victory, the event saw several more historic firsts, including two mother candidates, two transgender women and a plus-size individual.

Sheynnis, 23, pipped Anntonia Porsild of Thailand for the prestigious title, and looked elated as she was crowned by last year’s winner, USA’s R’Bonney Nola Gabriel.

Sheynnis outshone the 83 other candidates, making history as the first delegate from Nicaragua to win the Miss Universe title.

Sheynnis, who has a degree in Mass Communications from the Universidad Centroamericana, serves as a television host on a local channel. She is proficient in three languages: Spanish, Portuguese and English.

After two rounds of hot-topic questions from the selection committee, the Miss Universe top three were announced: Sheynnis, Anntonia and the second runner-up Moraya Wilson of Australia.