Meet Harnaaz Sandhu, 2021 Miss Universe

Harnaaz Sandhu is an Indian actress and model, She was recently crowned the 2021 Miss Universe making her the third Indian woman to win the title after Sushmita Sen in 1994 and Lara Dutta in 2000.

She was crowned by the previously reigning Miss Universe, Andrea Meza of Mexico, on the early hours of  Monday in the Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat.

Childhood and Education.

Harnaaz Sandhu was born on the 3rd of March 2000, she was born and raised in Guruharsahai India in a Punjabi Sikh family. She had her primary and secondary education at Shivalik Public School Guruharsahai.

For her tertiary education, She attended the  Post Graduate Government College for Girls from Chandigarh where she bagged a degree in  Information Technology and is presently pursuing her master’s degree in public administration.

Pageantry

Harnaaz Sandhu began to compete in Beauty pageantry as a teenager.  She has won Several pageantry competitions such as Miss Guruharsahai 2016, Miss Ferozepur 2017 and Miss Max Emerging Star India 2018.

She also won the title of Femina Miss India Punjab 2019 and was among the top 12 when she competed in Femina Miss India, in 2019.

Prior to Sandhu emerging as the 2021 Miss Universe, she had previously been crowned 2021 Miss Diva Universe, where she competed with over 50 semifinalists.

As Miss Diva 2021, Sandhu received the right to represent India at Miss Universe 2021. The competition was held on 12 December 2021 in Eilat, Israel.

Sandhu advanced from the initial pool of 80 contestants into the top sixteen, later advancing to the top ten, top five, and top three, before being crowned as the winner while Paraguay’s Nadia Ferreira and South Africa’s Lalela Mswane finished up as the first and second runner up respectively.