Miss World 2014 Winner : Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss Wins the Crown, Miss World 2014

Rolene Strauss, who earlier this year was criticised for gaining weight, has been crowned Miss World 2014.

The 22-year-old stunner was a hot favourite to claim the title at the competition held this evening in London. Bookmakers had placed odds of 2/1 that the South African would walk away with the title.
Ireland's hopeful Jessica Hayes was ranked as a complete outsider, with odds of 125/1, but looked stunning as she took to the stage in a custom gown by Irish designer Debbie Carroll.
The two runner ups this evening were Miss Hungary Edina Kulcsar and Miss USA Elizabeth Safrit.
Miss World 2013 Megan Young from the Philipines handed over her crown to Strauss at the star studded contest held in the ExCeL in the Royal Docks in the British capital.

Rolene, a fourth year medical student, has had lifelong aspirations of competing in the beauty pageant.
When she was 15 years old, she won the Elite Model Look search in her native country and placed in the top 15 in the international search.
She previously vied for the Miss South Africa crown in 2011, aged 19, and made it to the top five.
She claimed the Miss South Africa title in March this year.

In August, she was criticised for gaining weight by online trolls and the media resulting in her decision to embark on a 12-week body transformation programme.

Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss has won the Miss World 2014 pageant. Miss Hungary and Miss US were 2nd and third runners up respectively.

Rolene Strauss of South Africa was crowned Miss World 2014 on Sunday (early Monday morning Manila time), succeeding the Philippines' Megan Young for the title at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London.

The 22-year-old beauty won hearts with her background as a medical student in her native country.

"I hope Miss South Africa enjoys her year as much as I did," said Young, who became the first bet from the Philippines to win the Miss World tiara last year.

Edina Kulcsar of Hungary was runner-up, while the United States' Elizabeth Safrit was third.

But the night was as much about Young as the new winner, with the reigning beauty queen serving as host of the event. "It's not just a legacy for myself, but a legacy for Filipinos," she said in a video package prior to the announcement of the winner.

She also had a piece of advice for the new Miss World: "Be ready for challenges, be ready for anything that comes your way."

Philippines bet Valerie Weigmann failed to make it to the semifinals of the competition, ending her dream of winning back-to-back crowns for the country.

The former Eat Bulaga co-host had made it to the top 25 of the competition, but was left out of the top 10.

Weigmann had a chance to become the 11th semifinalist by winning the People's Choice Award, which is based on fan voting. But it was Miss Thailand who ended up winning the award and catching the last bus to the semifinals.

10.30: Miss World 2014 is Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss

10.30 pm: Miss Hungary Edina Kulcsar named runner-up, while Miss United States Elizabeth Safrit came third in the contest.

10.20: Top six contestants paid tribute to Miss World Chairman Julia Morley

10.00 pm: Top five semi-finalists are announced and they are from (in no order) Hungary, Australia, United States, South Africa and England.

9.50 pm: Miss Thailand won the People's Choice Award

9.50: Top 10 semi-finalists announced and they are (in order) Australia (10), Mexico (9), United States (8), Kenya (7), Hungary (6), Brazil (5), Guyana (4), England (3), South Africa (2) and India (1).

9.40 pm: Miss World honours Miss World 1994 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The 41-year-old Bollywood actress attended the grand finale along with husband Abhishek Bachchan, daughter Aaradhya and mother Vrinda Rai

9.30 pm: The Vamps perform live 

9.30: 25 quarter-finalists are announced and they are from Bolivia, People's Republic of China, Brazil, Dominican Republic, England, Mexico, Guyana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Sudan, Vietnam, Finland, Ghana, Kenya, Netherland, Philippines, Sweden, South Africa, United States, Australia, Russia, Scotland and Trinidad & Tobago

9.15 pm: For the first time, five contestants were announced as the winner of "Beauty With a Purpose" competition. The five contestants are from India, Kenya, Brazil, Indonesia and Guyana. 

9.10 pm: Miss United States Elizabeth Safrit is the winner of the Multimedia round, Miss Bosnia & Herzegovina Isidora Borovčanin is Top Model Winner, Miss Sweden Olivia Asplund is Beach Fashion competition winner and Miss Malaysia Dewi Liana Seriestha is Talent competition winner.

9.05 pm: Miss Scotland and Miss Malaysia perform live in front of audience, judges and viewers for Talent competition. 

9.00 pm: First leaderboard scores revealed and Miss France is leading the scoreboard list. 

8.50 pm: All contestants introduced to the audience 

8.40 pm: Contestants presented their National Costumes

8.20 pm: Grammy award-nominated and multi-platinum artist Sky Blu from LMFAO performs live at the opening ceremony. 

8.00 pm: Miss World 2013, Megan Young and Frankie Cena are co-hosting the pre-show event.

The grand finale of the 64^th edition of Miss World competition is all set to start in London. The coronation night will be broadcast live on the official website of Miss World.

Miss World 2013 Megan Young will crown her successor on Sunday night at ExCel London Exhibition and Convention Centre in London.

All the 125 contestants are excited for the finale and walk the ramp for the last time.

"We have been working so hard towards this day. Ever since we have been crowned in our national events, everything has been building up towards these last moments and I want nothing more than to do South Africa proud and do my best up on there on the Miss World stage," Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss said in a statement.

"I am so excited to see Kaiane, Gibraltar's first Miss World, today! It is so amazing how much she has done for our country and knowing that she is here is giving me such a boost of confidence and pride. This moment is bittersweet as even though I am so excited, I know this is one of the last moments the girls can be all together as a group and I know it has only been a few weeks but I am definitely going to miss these friendships I have built," Miss Gibraltar Shyanne Azzopardi said. Credits : IB Times