"South Korea's Rep, Born in 1991, Is 35"... 'Married or Divorced? Still OK': Miss Universe Removes Age Limit

2024: Upper age limit of 28 abolished
Women aged 40 to 80 compete in pageants worldwide

A 35-year-old woman will represent South Korea at the Miss Universe pageant.

Kim Yurim, competing as South Korea's representative at the 75th Miss Universe. Miss Universe Korea.

According to Miss Universe Korea and other sources on October 7, Kim Yurim, born in 1991 and now 35, will represent South Korea at the 75th Miss Universe pageant, which will be held in Puerto Rico this November.

For many years, Miss Universe limited contestants to those aged 18 to 28, making women ineligible once they turned 29. However, the age limit was abolished starting with the 2024 pageant, allowing women in their 30s and even 40s to compete for the crown.

In 2023, the Miss Universe Organization announced that it would remove the upper age limit for contestants. Starting in 2024, any adult woman aged 18 or older could compete, regardless of age.

Age was not the only requirement to change. Miss Universe lowered barriers to a pageant that had effectively been limited to young, unmarried women, relaxing its eligibility rules to allow married or divorced women and women with children to compete.

With these barriers removed, contestants rarely seen before began appearing in countries around the world.

In Argentina, Alejandra Marisa Rodríguez, a lawyer and journalist, made headlines by winning Miss Buenos Aires at age 60. She later competed in Miss Argentina but did not qualify to represent the country. At the time, contestants in the Miss Argentina pageant were reportedly between 18 and 73 years old.

In Canada, 58-year-old Lorraine Peters also competed in Miss Universe Canada. Under the former "under 28" rule, neither woman would have been eligible to compete.

That same year in South Korea, model Choi Soon-hwa, then 80, competed in the national selection. Although she was not chosen to represent South Korea, she received the "Best Dresser" award.

A new record for the oldest contestant was also set at the international pageant. In 2024, Beatrice Njoya, representing Malta, competed in Miss Universe at age 40, becoming the oldest contestant ever to reach the international stage. A mother of three, Njoya became a prominent example of a contestant who competed internationally in the first year after the age limit was abolished.

Since the age limit was abolished, contestants in their 40s, 50s and 60s have appeared, and women in their 80s have competed in national selections. The pageant's contestant profile has changed significantly after more than 70 years. Of the more than 120 contestants at the 2024 Miss Universe pageant, at least 25 were reportedly older than the former age limit of 28.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.