The Miss France organization has announced that it will not send a candidate to represent France at Miss Universe 2026. The decision, made official this Thursday, marks a break with the international competition, whose next edition is to be held in Puerto Rico. This announcement follows the confirmation of Indira Ampiot's participation in Miss World 2026. For Miss Universe, however, no French representative will be chosen this year.
Values now deemed incompatible
The Miss France committee explains that it wants to remain true to its identity, its commitments, and the values upheld by the national competition. It believes these principles are no longer aligned with the recent direction taken by Miss Universe. For now, the decision only concerns the 2026 edition. The organization indicates that it will remain attentive to the future development of the international competition and does not rule out future participation.
The 2025 Miss Universe pageant, marred by cheating and scandals, weighed heavily in the decision.
The Miss France organization is citing numerous irregularities observed during the 2025 Miss Universe pageant, held in Bangkok, Thailand. The competition was marred by several controversies. One of the jury members, Omar Harfouch, announced his resignation. He denounced suspicions of fraud, abuse of power, corruption, deception, breach of contract, and conflicts of interest, specifically targeting a vote he deemed illegitimate to determine the 30 finalists before the arrival of the official jury. Providing evidence, he demonstrated that the election of Fatima Bosch was rigged and that the co-owner of Miss Universe, Raúl Rocha, was behind this fraud. Claude Makélélé, another jury member, also resigned.
This announcement follows revelations by Entrevue magazine.
It should be noted that this announcement from the Miss France organization comes right after the revelations ofInterviewsWe announced this Thursday morning that Natalie GlebovaAnother member of the Miss Universe 2025 jury revealed that 6 of the 8 jury members had not voted for Fátima Bosch. This was the final straw for Miss France, who distanced herself from Miss Universe.
It should be noted that the Miss France company presents this decision as a suspension limited to the 2026 edition. Its president, Frédéric Gilbert, affirms that participating in Miss Universe remains an important opportunity to make France shine internationally, but that the organization must above all preserve the integrity of its values and the identity of the Miss France competition.
Here is the full press release from the Miss France organization:
"The Miss France organization announces the suspension of its participation in the Miss Universe international competition for the 2026 edition."
The Miss France organization announces its decision not to participate in the Miss Universe competition for the 2026 edition.
This decision reflects the desire to remain faithful to the identity, values and commitments of the Miss France competition, which are no longer in line with recent developments and the direction of the international competition, particularly following the numerous malfunctions observed during the 2025 edition.
This decision was made for the next edition. The Miss France organization remains attentive to future developments in the competition and hopes to be able to participate again in the near future.
“Participating in Miss Universe has always been a significant and wonderful opportunity to showcase France internationally. However, our responsibility is to defend the loyalty and integrity of our values as well as the identity of the Miss France competition. The decision made today responds to this requirement. We will remain attentive to future developments.”
Frédéric Gilbert, president of the Miss France organization »
