The Miss World pageant has announced it will eliminate the swimsuit round from its competition starting in 2015. Chairwoman Julia Morley told Elle magazine: 'I really 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.'
Morley, who took over the pageant after her husband Eric's death in 2000, said the swimsuit segment had become archaic. The competition, originally founded as the Festival Bikini Contest in 1951, has already stopped broadcasting the bikini portion in recent years, judging it privately. Now it will be removed entirely.
'We don't want to just make them feel like they are walking bodies,' Morley explained. She aims to distinguish Miss World from other pageants, such as Donald Trump's Miss Universe, by focusing on brains and personality. The Beauty with a Purpose charity element, introduced in 1974, will be emphasised.
This year's winner, Rolene Strauss of South Africa, exemplifies the new direction. The 22-year-old medical student speaks fluent English and Afrikaans, and her parents are a doctor and nurse. 'Everyone in my town called me Little Dr Strauss,' she said. Morley hopes the changes will shift the focus from physical appearance to substance.
