Shela crowned Miss Universe Bangladesh, will compete in main pageant in US

Shirin Akter Shela from Thakurgaon has won Miss Universe Bangladesh crown at the grand finale of the pageant held in Dhaka for the first time.

Indian actor Sushmita Sen, who won the title of Miss Universe in 1994, crowned Shela in the grand finale at International Convention City Bashundhara in Dhaka on Wednesday night.

Alisha Islam and Jessia Islam became the first and second runner-up, respectively.

Shela, a third-year physics student of the Dhaka University, hails from Thakurgaon’s Pirganj Upazila. She topped among 10 others contestants in the final slot.

The journey started when the registration began in July 2019.

The first round started with more than 12,000 registrations before the elimination process and then three-month boot camp kicked off.

The theme of the event was, “My Confidence, My Beauty.”

“My father is a soldier, he is guarding border right at this moment," Shela said responding to a question from Sushmita Sen before winning the diamond crown, worth Tk 2 million.

After receiving the crown before a big crowd, an overwhelmed Shela said, “From today, I myself am Bangladesh. I want to work for my country as my father is.”

“When I was representing India in the main event of the Miss Universe competition, I was not good enough in English. I think it is possible to make everything possible using mother tongue if you have the will power,” Sushmita said while talking about her experiences during the pageant in 1994.

“It is not easy to fight more than 150 contestants from various countries on a global stage. I hope Bangladesh will do better in this sector too,” she added.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader joined the event as special guest, and conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Shela will now represent Bangladesh in the main event of 68th Miss Universe competition, to be held in the US this December. This will be the first time Bangladesh will have participation in the main event of the competition.

The other judges of this event included singer Tahsan Khan, Persona’s Managing Director Kaniz Almas, President of Bangladesh Heritage Craft Tootli Rahman, Founder of Pulse Health Care Rubaba Dowla, Managing Director of Green Delta Insurance Farzanah Chowdhury, Managing Director of Flora Bank Rafiul Islam, commentator and former cricketer Athar Ali Khan,  and movie star Akbar Hossain Khan Pathan Farooque.

The franchise owner for Bangladesh Miss Universe is a consortium between RIZ events and Off Track & Trilogy.