Miss World ditches swimsuit section
Miss South Africa and the 2014 Miss World, Rolene Strauss (C), holds hands with first runner up Miss Hungary Edina Kulcsar (L) and second runner up Miss United States Elizabeth Safrit (R) after being crowned during the grand final of the Miss World 2014 pageant at the Excel London ICC Auditorium in London on December 14, 2014. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL
What you need to know:
- Chris Wilmer, the director of the competition - which is the oldest of its kind in the world - has announced the segment will no longer be part of the annual event because it is not in line with the rest of the rounds.
Miss World organisers have cancelled the pageant's swimsuit section, saying it does not have a "purpose" because the contest is more about outreach.
Chris Wilmer, the director of the competition - which is the oldest of its kind in the world - has announced the segment will no longer be part of the annual event because it is not in line with the rest of the rounds.
He said: "The organisation has decided to take itself out of the swimsuit world because it isn't the path they're trying to take."
The representative - who is the national director of the Miss World America/ Miss United States organisation - sees little purpose in the section because the competition is not all about the women's aesthetics.
He said: "It's not just a beauty contest, it's beauty with a purpose. There didn't seem to be a purpose to have the swimsuit.
"Miss World should be a spokesperson who can help a community. She's more of an ambassador, not a beauty queen.
"It's more about the outreach and what a woman could do with a title like Miss World."
The round has been held in private since 2001 when it was renamed the "beach fashion" segment.
Organiser Julia Morley, shed more light on why they have now decided to axe the section altogether.
She told Elle magazine: "I don't need to see women just walking up and down in bikinis, it doesn't do anything for the woman, and it doesn't do anything for any of us.
"I don't care if someone has a bottom two inches bigger than someone else's. We are really not looking at her bottom. We are really listening to her speak."
