Miss Earth 2018

Miss Earth 2018
Nguyễn Phương Khánh
Date	November 3, 2018
Presenters	James Deakin
Entertainment	Brian McKnight
Theme	Goddesses of the Earth
Venue	Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines
Broadcaster	Live Telecast: Fox Life GMA Network MVS Comunicaciones Telecaribe Globovisión Telecentro Suriname Cable and Communication Network ZAP (satellite television) and SKTV1-Vietnam Live Stream: Miss Earth Facebook page Miss Earth YouTube channel
Entrants	87
Placements	18
Debuts	Montenegro
Withdrawals	Angola Canada Chinese Taipei Cook Islands Ethiopia Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Mongolia Pakistan Switzerland Uganda US Virgin Islands Wales
Returns	Armenia Cuba Curaçao Egypt Germany Greece Guam Guyana Haiti Ireland Liberia Romania South Africa Trinidad and Tobago
Winner	Nguyễn Phương Khánh Vietnam
← 2017 2019 →

Miss Earth 2018 was the 18th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines, on November 3, 2018.

Karen Ibasco of the Philippines crowned her successor Nguyễn Phương Khánh of Vietnam at the end of the event. This is the first time Vietnam won the Miss Earth pageant, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants.

In August 2019, the Miss Earth 2018 winners and the Armed Forces of the Philippines conducted an outreach program for the welfare of the senior citizens and persons with disabilities admitted at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in the Philippines.^[1]

Placement[2]	Contestant
Miss Earth 2018	Vietnam – Nguyễn Phương Khánh
Miss Earth – Air 2018	Austria – Melanie Mader
Miss Earth – Water 2018	Colombia – Valeria Ayos
Miss Earth – Fire 2018	Mexico – Melissa Flores §
Top 8	Italy – Sofia Pavan  Philippines – Celeste Cortesi  Portugal – Telma Madeira  Venezuela – Diana Silva
Top 12	Chile – Antonia Figueroa  Netherlands – Margaretha de Jong  Slovenia – Danijela Burjan  South Africa – Margo Fargo
Top 18	Brazil – Sayonara Veras  Ghana – Belvy Naa  Japan – Mio Tanaka  Montenegro – Katarina Seckovic    Nepal – Priya Sigdel §  Romania – Denisse Andor

(§) – Placed in the Top 18 are two spots chosen by the People and Judges for the Best Eco-Video (1) and Best Eco-Social Media (1) Awardees

On July 26, 2018, it was announced through Miss Earth Organization's social media accounts that the pageant will be held in the Philippines again from October 6 to November 3.

The live telecast of the pageant's coronation night will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay for the third consecutive year.

On October 20, 2018, Miss Earth announced in their Facebook page that they will have this year's Eco-Video and Eco-Media Award winners, an automatic fast-tracks to the Top 18. Two candidates will earn two spots through the preliminary panel of judges and by the votes of social media.

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Event		Gold	Silver	Bronze
National Costume Competition
	Asia & Oceania	Nguyễn Phương Khánh  Vietnam	Nirada Chetsadapriyakun  Thailand	Celeste Cortesi  Philippines
	North & Central America	Melissa Flores  Mexico	Diana Lemos  Panama	Lisa Hayet  Guatemala
	South America	Xamiera Kippins  Guyana	Diana Valdivieso  Ecuador	Jessica Russo  Peru
	Africa	Alma Nancy Sesay  Sierra Leone	Margret Konie  Zambia	Maristella Okpala  Nigeria
	Western Europe	Carolina Jane  Spain	Telma Madeira  Portugal	Sofia Pavan  Italy
	Eastern Europe	Nina Jovanović  Serbia	Ksenia Sarina  Crimea	Katarina Šećković  Montenegro
Evening Gown Competition
	AIR Group	Danijela Burjan  Slovenia	Celeste Cortesi  Philippines	Jessica Russo  Peru
	WATER Group	Nguyễn Phương Khánh  Vietnam	Sofia Pavan  Italy	Guo Yameng '  China
	FIRE Group	Nirada Chetsadapriyakun  Thailand	Gabriela Franceschini  Dominican Republic	Denisse Andor  Romania
Swimsuit Competition
	AIR Group	Telma Madeira  Portugal	Celeste Cortesi  Philippines	Danijela Burjan  Slovenia
	WATER Group	Melissa Flores  Mexico	Nguyễn Phương Khánh  Vietnam	Nađa Pepić  Bosnia and Herzegovina
	FIRE Group	Diana Silva  Venezuela	Gabriela Franceschini  Dominican Republic	Carolina Jane  Spain
Resort Wear Competition
	AIR Group	Celeste Cortesi  Philippines	Valeria Ayos  Colombia	Nishi Bhardwaj  India
	WATER Group	Melissa Flores  Mexico	Christie van Schalkwyk  Northern Ireland	Nađa Pepić  Bosnia and Herzegovina Sofia Pavan  Italy
	FIRE Group	Diana Silva  Venezuela	Margaretha de Jong  Netherlands	Carolina Jane  Spain
Talent Competition
	AIR Group	Danijela Burjan  Slovenia	Afeya Jeffrey  Trinidad and Tobago	Antonia Figueroa  Chile
	WATER Group	Melanie Mader  Austria	Xamiera Kippins  Guyana	Krystal Xamairy  Puerto Rico
	FIRE Group	Daria Kartyshova  Russia	Priya Sigdel    Nepal	Nirada Chetsadapriyakun  Thailand

Award	Delegate
Miss Earth Goes Plastic Free 1st Runner-up 2nd Runner-up	Nigeria – Maristella Okpala  Indonesia – Ratu Vashti Annisa  South Africa – Margo Fargo
Darling of the Press	Guam – Emma Sheedy
Goddess of Albay 1st Runner-up 2nd Runner-up	Portugal – Telma Madeira  Philippines – Celeste Cortesi  Slovenia – Danijela Burjan
Best in Terno 1st Runner-up 2nd Runner-up	Portugal – Telma Madeira  Philippines – Celeste Cortesi  Peru – Jessica Russo

Award	Delegate
Miss Brisa Marina	Dominican Republic – Gabriela Franceschini
Miss CBNC Choice Award	Spain – Carolina Jane
Miss Coral Bay Nickel Corporation Choice Award	Spain – Carolina Jane
Miss Earth JACMI	Mexico – Melissa Flores
Miss Ever Bilena	Indonesia - Ratu Vashti Annisa
Miss People's Choice City Ambassadress	Indonesia – Ratu Vashti Annisa
Miss Psalmstre New Placenta	Indonesia – Ratu Vashti Annisa  Brazil – Sayonara Veras  Mexico – Melissa Flores
Miss Pontefino Estates	Brazil – Sayonara Veras
Miss Pontefino Hotel	Puerto Rico – Krystal Xamairy
Miss Puerto Princesa Agutaya Club	South Africa – Margo Fargo
Miss Puerto Princesa Centro Hotel	Vietnam – Nguyễn Phương Khánh
Miss Robig Builders	Vietnam – Nguyễn Phương Khánh
Miss Ruj Beauty Care & Spa	Vietnam – Nguyễn Phương Khánh
Miss Sharp Award	Northern Ireland – Christie van Schalkwyk
Miss Sponsor of DV Boer Farm Ambassadress	Nepal – Priya Sigdel
Miss Sponsor of Facial Cleanse Ambassadress	Guam – Emma Sheedy
Miss Sponsor of Forever Living Ambassadress	Ghana – Belvy Naa
Miss Sponsor of Infinity Closet	Peru – Jessica Russo
Miss Wellness Lumiere Skin & Spa	Spain – Carolina Jane
Miss Visit Laus Auto Group	Spain – Carolina Jane
Miss Junca Beauty 2018	England – Abbey-Anne Gyles-Brown

87 contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age	Hometown	Group
Argentina	Dolores Cardoso[3]	23	Arrecifes	FIRE
Armenia	Sona Danielyan[3]	22	Yerevan	FIRE
Australia	Monique Shippen	25	Sydney	FIRE
Austria	Melanie Mader[4]	26	Vienna	WATER
Bahamas	Samia Lauryn McClain[3]	18	Nassau	WATER
Belarus	Anastasia Schipanova[3]	26	Minsk	AIR
Belgium	Faye Bulcke	21	Zonnebeke	AIR
Belize	Renae Martinez	21	Belize City	AIR
Bolivia	Karen Quispe	20	Bermejo	FIRE
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Nađa Pepić[3]	18	Banja Luka	WATER
Brazil	Sayonara Veras[3]	25	Olinda	WATER
Cambodia	Keo Senglyhour[3]	20	Phnom Penh	WATER
Cameroon	Audrey Monkam	23	Buea	AIR
Chile	Antonia Figueroa	23	La Serena	AIR
China	Guo Yameng	21	Beijing	WATER
Colombia	Valeria Ayos	24	Cartagena	AIR
Costa Rica	Arianna Medrano[3]	19	Puntarenas	AIR
Crimea	Ksenia Sarina[3]	25	Simferopol	AIR
Croatia	Michelle Korenic[3]	20	Zagreb	WATER
Cuba	Monica Aguilar[3]	19	Camagüey	AIR
Curaçao	Alexandra Atalita	24	Willemstad	FIRE
Cyprus	María Armenáki[3]	18	Ayia Napa	WATER
Czech Republic	Tereza Křivánková	24	Prague	FIRE
Denmark	Kamilla Bang[3]	19	Horsens	FIRE
Dominican Republic	Gabriela Franceschini	26	Santo Domingo	FIRE
Ecuador	Diana Valdivieso	20	Portoviejo	WATER
Egypt	Lamia Fathi	24	Cairo	WATER
England	Abbey-Anne Gyles-Brown	20	Northampton	AIR
France	Allison Dernard	25	Marseille	AIR
Germany	Maren Tschinkel	20	Ravensburg	FIRE
Ghana	Belvy Naa[3]	25	Accra	AIR
Greece	Chrysa Androutsopoulou	24	Patras	FIRE
Guadeloupe	Orlane Dorocant[3]	20	Gourbeyre	WATER
Guam	Emma Sheedy[3]	18	Yigo	AIR
Guatemala	Lisa Hayet[3]	24	Mixco	WATER
Guyana	Xamiera Kippins	23	Georgetown	WATER
Haiti	Falance Benjamin[3]	26	Port-au-Prince	AIR
Honduras	Diana Palma	21	Danlí	FIRE
Hungary	Réka Lukács[3]	25	Budapest	AIR
India	Nishi Bhardwaj	23	New Delhi	AIR
Indonesia	Ratu Vashti Annisa	23	Tangerang	WATER
Ireland	Sarah Carr	24	Downings	AIR
Israel	Dana Zreik[3]	20	Olesh	WATER
Italy	Sofia Pavan	19	Padua	WATER
Japan	Mio Tanaka	24	Komatsu	AIR
Korea	Su-hyun Song	25	Daegu	FIRE
Liberia	Joicet Jartu Foday[3]	23	Monrovia	WATER
Malaysia	Jasmine Yeo[5]	25	Kuching	FIRE
Malta	Yanika Azzopardi[3]	22	Mosta	WATER
Mauritius	Kirty Sujeewon[3]	26	Fond du Sac	AIR
Mexico	Melissa Flores	20	Venustiano Carranza	WATER
Moldova	Dumitrița Izbișciuc	18	Chișinău	AIR
Montenegro	Katarina Šećković[3]	24	Bijelo Polje	FIRE
Myanmar	Chaw Yupar Thet	24	Yangon	AIR
Nepal	Priya Sigdel[3]	23	Kathmandu	FIRE
Netherlands	Margaretha de Jong	21	Tytsjerksteradiel	FIRE
New Zealand	Jzayla Hughey	22	Auckland	WATER
Nigeria	Maristella Okpala	25	Enugu	FIRE
Northern Ireland	Christie van Schalkwyk	24	Carrickfergus	WATER
Panama	Diana Lemos[3]	20	La Chorrera	FIRE
Paraguay	Larissa Dominguez[3]	22	Asunción	WATER
Peru	Jessica Russo	22	Lima	AIR
Philippines	Celeste Cortesi	20	Pasay	AIR
Poland	Aleksandra Grysz	22	Kraków	FIRE
Portugal	Telma Madeira[3]	18	Porto	AIR
Puerto Rico	Krystal Xamairy	18	Arecibo	WATER
Réunion Island	Alexia Aupin	18	Saint-Joseph	WATER
Romania	Denisse Andor[6]	23	Bistrița	FIRE
Russia	Daria Kartyshova	24	Nizhny Novgorod	FIRE
Rwanda	Anastasie Umutoniwase[7]	19	Kigali	FIRE
Samoa	Rebecca Sang-Yum	20	Apia	AIR
Serbia	Nina Jovanović[3]	18	Požarevac	WATER
Sierra Leone	Alma Nancy Sesa	19	Port Loko	FIRE
Singapore	Kara Dong	19	Singapore City	FIRE
Slovenia	Danijela Burjan[8]	22	Zreče	AIR
South Africa	Margo Fargo	26	Heidedal	FIRE
Spain	Carolina Jane	22	Cantabria	FIRE
Sri Lanka	Nathasha Fernando[3]	21	Matara	WATER
Sweden	Yasmine Mindru[9]	19	Gothenburg	FIRE
Thailand	Nirada Chetsadapriyakun	26	Amnat Charoen	FIRE
Tonga	Maria Otulao Aholelei	21	Nukuʻalofa	WATER
Trinidad and Tobago	Afeya Jeffrey	26	Point Fortin	AIR
Ukraine	Anastasiia Kryvokhyzha[3]	23	Kyiv	WATER
United States	Yashvi Aware	25	College Park	FIRE
Venezuela	Diana Silva[10]	21	Caracas	FIRE
Vietnam	Nguyễn Phương Khánh[3]	23	Ben Tre	WATER
Zambia	Margret Konie[3]	21	Lusaka	AIR

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•  Montenegro

•  Belgium – Faye Bulcke was appointed Miss Earth Belgium 2018 by Ken Stevens (national director of Miss Earth Belgium) as a replacement to Mayke Aendekerk, who cannot compete to the pageant for personal reasons. Bulcke was crowned 2nd runner-up at the Miss Exclusive 2016 pageant. The winner of Miss Exclusive pageant usually competes at Miss Earth.
•  Bolivia – Karen Jenifer Quispe Nava was appointed Miss Earth Bolivia 2018 by Promociones Gloria as a replacement to Ilssen Olmos Ferrufino, who was reportedly rejected by Miss Earth Organization for not meeting the age requirements of the pageant. Quispe was crowned Virreina Miss World Bolivia 2018. Olmos will compete in Miss Supranational 2018 pageant instead.
•  India – Nishi Bharadwaj has been appointed as Miss Earth India 2018 by Glamanand Supermodel India Organization as a replacement to the original title holder of Miss Earth India 2018 Devika Vaid. The original winner suffered with an injury making her unable to compete at the forthcoming Miss Earth 2018.

•  South Africa – Margo Fargo was appointed as Miss Earth South Africa 2018. The appointment was due to conflict of schedules with Miss Earth South Africa 2018 pageant and the Miss Earth 2018 pageant arrival. Fargo previously worked as Miss Earth South Africa Ambassador in 2014 and recently competed for Miss South Africa 2018, where she placed in the Top 12.
•  Thailand – Nirada Chetsadapriyakun was appointed as Miss Earth Thailand 2018 by Pawina Bumrungrot, National Director of ERM Marketing Co., Ltd., Thailand. Nirada was the 2nd Runner-up of Miss All Nations Thailand 2017.

During the contest

•  Canada – Jaime Vandenberg participated in some the preliminary activities in Manila but she decided to withdraw before the coronation night after accusing one of the Filipino food sponsors of sexual harassment during a dinner at the Manila Yacht Club.
•  Lebanon – Salwa Akar was dethroned the title "Miss Earth Lebanon 2018" by the Miss Lebanon Organization after her photo with Miss Israel appeared in the media. She returned to her hometown afterwards.

Before the contest

Miss Lebanon 2018 Salwa Akar received international press attention when she was stripped of her title in Lebanon, while participating in Miss Earth 2018 pageant after she posted a photo in Facebook with her arm around Miss Israel's Dana Zreik and making peace signs.^[11][12] Lebanon and Israel are in a long-standing state of war.^[13] As a result, she was unable to continue her participation in the Miss Earth pageant.^[14] In a press release, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Ofir Gendelman reacted on Akar’s dethronement and condemned the "Lebanese apartheid."^[15][16]

On November 7–8, 2018, Jaime Vandenberg of Canada, Abbey-Anne Gyles-Brown of England, and Emma Sheedy of Guam accused one of the Filipino food sponsors of sexual harassment during a dinner at the Manila Yacht Club, claiming that he asked them for sexual favors in exchange for the crown or an advancement in the pageant.^[17][18] Sheedy had identified the sponsor as Amado S. Cruz, who is president of a car rental company and CEO of a construction company.^[19] The Manila Yacht Club officials clarified that Cruz is not a member and could have just been sponsored by another member.^[20] The pageant officials indicated that Cruz was not one of the major sponsors of the pageant and just sponsored for an evening meal.^[21]

Vandenberg withdrew from competition after Cruz obtained her mobile number without her consent and kept calling her for her hotel and room number. The pageant officials stated that they did not know how Cruz obtained her number, and they only have the delegates' international contact numbers and the pageant's mode of communication was through messenger and group chat only.^[21]

Vandenberg also claimed the organizers confiscated her passport on the first day of competition. The pageant organizers denied Vandenberg's claim, stating that delegates are free to keep their passports by signing a waiver and they only keep the passports for safekeeping since there had been many occasions of misplacing or losing their passports and to facilitate check-in for their domestic flights and hotel accommodations.^[22][20]

Vandenberg also said that seven candidates left the dinner and accompanied by the team managers to sit on the bus after feeling uncomfortable with the sponsor.^[23] All three candidates voiced their complaints to organizer Lorraine Schuck, but despite Schuck's assurance that Cruz would not be allowed near the candidates, he still appeared in the pageant.^[20][24][25] Schuck then stated that she does not have any authority in public places, such as the hotels where the delegates stayed and the Mall of Asia Arena where the grand final of the pageant took place since the pageant was a public event.^[19] Furthermore, Schuck said that all the delegates had police escorts for their safety.^[23] Schuck subsequently announced that Cruz is 'forever banned' from Miss Earth.^[26]

On November 9, 2018, Cruz denied the accusations of the three candidates. In addition, Monica Aguilar of Cuba claimed there were no instances of sexual harassment during the competition.^[27] Instead, she stated that the sponsor asked only if they wished to extend their visas to proceed to Boracay after the pageant, and she further stated that "no one was promised to get us further in the competition through 'sexual favors."^[28]

On November 10, 2018, Schuck's company Carousel Productions Inc. urged other candidates to come forward if they experienced any incidents of sexual harassment during the pageant.^[19] The organizer also expressed support to the delegates in case they decide to take any further action to the alleged perpetrator.^[22]

Contestants who previously competed or will be competing at other international beauty pageants:

Miss Universe

• 2021:  Colombia: Valeria Ayos (Top 5)
• 2021:  Chile: Antonia Figueroa (Unplaced)
• 2021:  Nigeria: Maristella Okpala (Unplaced), Best National Costume
• 2022:  Philippines: Celeste Cortesi (Unplaced)
• 2022:  Portugal: Telma Madeira (Top 16)
• 2023:  Mexico: Melissa Flores (Unplaced)
• 2023:  Venezuela: Diana Silva (Top 10)

Miss World

• 2016:  Chile: Antonia Figueroa (Unplaced)
• 2017:  Belize: Renae Martinez (Unplaced)

Miss International

• 2019:  Australia: Monique Shippen^[29] (Unplaced)

Miss Grand International

• 2023:  Romania: Denisse Andor (Unplaced)

Miss Asia Pacific International

• 2018:  Armenia: Sona Danielyan (Unplaced)

Top Model of the World

• 2017:  Germany: Maren Tschinkel (Unplaced)

Reinado Internacional Del Café

• 2018:  Argentina: Dolores Cardoso (Unplaced)

Miss Grand Mar Universe

• 2016:  Malta: Yanika Azzopardi (Top 5)

Miss City Tourism World

• 2017:  Venezuela: Diana Silva^[30] (Winner)

Miss Black San International Queen

• 2017:  Guyana: Xamiera Kippins^[31] (Winner)

Miss Tourism America

• 2014:  Paraguay: Larissa Dominguez^[32] (Winner)

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Broadcasters	Coverage
Facebook Live	Livestream on the official Facebook page of Miss Earth Organization.
FOX Life	Live broadcast in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
GMA Network	Livestream on the official YouTube Channel of GMA Network and delayed telecast (November 4, 2018) in the Philippines.
Globovisión	Broadcast in Venezuela and through DirecTV cable channels in Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Curaçao, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.
Hong Kong Cable Television	Broadcast in Hong Kong.
MVS Comunicaciones	Broadcast in Central and South America, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the United States.
Telecaribe	Broadcast in Colombia.
Telemicro	Broadcast in Dominican Republic.
SCCN Channel 17	Broadcast in Suriname.
ZAP TV	Broadcast in Angola and Mozambique.

• Official website