Miss Universe 2025: Beauty Queens, Peacock Streams, and Nebraska's Crown Bid

KEY POINTS

•The 74th Miss Universe pageant will take place on Friday in Thailand with 120 contestants competing.
•The event will stream on Peacock in the United States on Thursday night.
•Audrey Eckert from Nebraska won Miss USA 2025 after years of turmoil in the pageant's leadership.
•R'Bonney Gabriel was the last Miss USA crowned Miss Universe in 2022, ending a decade-long US drought.

Hold onto your tiaras, pageant fans! The 74th Miss Universe sash-opener kicks off in Thailand with 120 contestants strutting for glory, crowned live on US Peacock this Thursday. Audrey Eckert of Nebraska, fresh from surviving years of Miss USA drama, now carries the American hopes after R'Bonney Gabriel broke a 10-year drought in 2022. Did you know nine Miss USAs have gone all the way? Miriam Stevenson popped off first in 1954 after literally out-physiquing Miss Brazil. Along the way, we've had elementary education majors drop classes for acting, jockey exes, record deal diversions, and even renamed congeniality awards for departed queens. Paging all Hollywood agents—pageantry's got more drama than a daytime soap and better photo ops.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Miss Universe 2025: The only place where a college dropout, a jockey's ex, and record deal hopefuls qualify as 'diverse career paths.' Peacock streaming reality and tiara-induced chaos.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Is Miss Universe just an elaborate audition for Hollywood, or are we just watching decades of 'How to quit your degree gracefully' unfold?

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Only in Miss Universe can a Nebraska fragrance replace decades of drama, jet-setting, and America’s surprisingly passionate arm-wrestle with Brazil starting in 1954.

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