Puerto Rico is Mister World 2024, Philippines' Kirk Bondad in Top 20
MANILA, Philippines —Daniel Mejia of Puerto Rico bested 59 other hopefuls to be proclaimed Mister World 2024 on Saturday night, November 23, in Vietnam.
After two near wins in 1998 and 2016, this nation in the Bermuda Triangle finally became the victor. Danny also won the Talent and Sports challenges during the pre-pageant.
Jack Heslewood of England relinquished his title, which he held for five years, to his 27-year-old successor from North America.
Pham Tuan Ngoc (Vietnam, Continental winner of Asia & Oceania) was proclaimed 1st runner-up, while Antonio Company (Spain, Continental winner of Europe) and Felipe Salazar Maria (Angola, Continental winner of Africa) were declared 2nd and 3rd runners-up, respectively.
The other delegates who made it to the Top 10 were Juan Alberto Garcia (Venezuela), Tomas Haring (Czech Republic), Teddy Rossiter (Kenya), Gokul Ganesan (India), Ege Karabenli (Turkiye, Top Model challenge winner), and Amac Mathiang Ater Apugi (Sri Lanka, People's Choice Award from the online poll - both for National Costume and automatic Top 10 placement). South Sudan was the judges' choice for Best National Costume.
The other gentlemen who made it to the semifinal round (Top 20) were Daryn Friedman (USA), Sai Tuong Law (Myanmar, Charitable Project winner), Bruno Barbieri (Italy, Multimedia challenge winner), Victor Soto (Peru, Popular Vote winner for the Americas/Caribbean), Alhaji Hagan Mansaray (Sierra Leone, Popular Vote winner of Africa), Nathan de Schepper (Belgium, Popular Vote winner of Europe), Tomas Chigo (Argentina), Alan Salazar (Mexico), Mario El Hajj (Lebanon), and Kirk Bondad (Philippines).
Established in 1996 with Belgium's Tom Nuyens as inaugural winner, the Mister World has grown to become one of the top male pageants internationally. It has been held once every two years — except in the years 2000, 2007, and 2016 that had a three-year interval; 2003, which had a four-year gap; and 2019, which had a five-year absence due to the global pandemic.
The Philippines had a near-win in 2012 when Andrew Wolfe won as 1st runner-up to Francisco Escobar of Colombia.
Miss World Chief Executive Officer Julia Morley and reigning Miss World Krystyna Pyszcova were among the members of this year's selection committee.
Hosted by Mister World 1998 Sandro Finoglio of Venezuela and Miss World Vietnam 2019 Luong Thuy Linh, the Mister World 2024 final show was streamed to a global audience from the Bikini Beach Square inside the sprawling Nova World Phan Thiet in Vietnam through the Mister World channel on YouTube.
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