Most of the Miss Universe contestants could have been her granddaughters: Choi Soon Hwa competed to represent her home country at the finals. In the end a younger woman won.
An 81-year-old South Korean woman narrowly missed out on making it to the finals of the Miss Universe pageants. Choi Soon Hwa, born in 1943, made it into the preselection for South Korea on Monday evening, but had to admit defeat to 22-year-old Han Ariel in the competition with 31 other women. The fashion student will now represent her home country at the main competition in Mexico in November.
Since this year, the organizers of the Miss Universe competition have lifted the rigid age restrictions. Previously, only women between the ages of 18 and 28 were allowed to participate.
Oldest Miss Universe finalist
Choi Soon Hwa would have been by far the oldest finalist in the competition. The trained nurse only started modeling at the age of 72. At that time, a patient she was caring for as a nurse advised her to just try the catwalk, she says. Since then, Choi Soon Hwa has had a remarkable career in her home country of South Korea: in 2018 she made her debut at Seoul Fashion Week, which was followed by regular photo shoots with major fashion magazines. “The second life is the joy and reward of life,” she writes on Instagram about her late calling as a model.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
