Miss Malawi Organisation has dismissed reports placing Malawi’s Miss World 2026 representative Ireen Navicha 64th among other contestants at the Miss World Competition as irrelevant to the pageant’s actual selection process.
The organisation’s public relations officer Stephen Mdala said the ranking, circulated by some bloggers and media platforms, is not an official Miss World assessment and should not be used to judge Navicha’s chances.
“The 64th ranking is unofficial and does not represent what Miss World is about. Different bloggers and media houses are currently rating contestants and those are just their opinions and should be treated as such. Miss World has not started releasing their standouts as of now,” he said.
Mdala said that Miss World has a structured format which sees contestants participate in challenges and activities that contribute to their assessment before taking to the main stage.
He said the accumulated grades from these activities will be important when contestants compete on the Miss World stage and progress through different stages.
According to what Miss World posted on their social media platforms, it shows that the first major cut of the competition will produce a Top 40, comprising 10 contestants from each continental group such as Africa, the Americas and Caribbean, Asia and Oceania and Europe.
Winners of key fast-track competitions, including Beauty With a Purpose, Multimedia, Head-to-Head and Top Model, can earn automatic places in the Top 40 while judges select the remaining contestants.
From the Top 40, the competition will narrow to 20 through fast-track results and judges’ selections, followed by a Top 12 selected through judges’ assessment and People’s Choice voting.
The Top 12 will then be reduced to six, comprising the Beauty With a Purpose winner, one contestant from each continental group and the People’s Choice winner, before the finalists compete for the crown.
Mdala said Navicha’s immediate focus is on performing strongly in the remaining activities, including Top Model, where contestants will be assessed and graded.
In their public post on the Miss World website, the organisation said the Top Model challenge will begin with the first round at Dragon Beach in Hải Phòng on yesterday where the 111 national ambassadors will showcase designs by Vietnamese designers.
Navicha, who is Miss Malawi First Princess, is among the 111 national ambassadors in Vietnam competing in the 75th Anniversary Miss World competition.
