I am interested in the patriotic bias exhibited by the Miss World and Miss Universe contests.
7 winners have been crowned Miss Universe on their home turf. In particular, 6 of the 8 American winners won the title in the US (where the contest was founded):
- 1954: Miriam Stevenson (USA) was crowned in Long Beach, California, USA.
- 1956: Carol Morris (USA) was crowned in Long Beach, California, USA.
- 1960: Linda Bement (USA) was crowned in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- 1967: Sylvia Hitchcock (USA) was crowned in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- 1997: Brook Mahealani Lee (USA) was crowned in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- 2001: Denise Quiñones (Puerto Rico) was crowned in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
- 2012: Olivia Culpo (USA) was crowned in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
7 winners have been crowned Miss World on their home turf. In particular, all of the 5 British winners won the title in the UK (where the contest was founded):
- 1961: Rosemarie Frankland (United Kingdom) was crowned in London, UK.
- 1964: Ann Sidney (United Kingdom) was crowned in London, UK.
- 1965: Lesley Langley (United Kingdom) was crowned in London, UK.
- 1974: Helen Morgan (United Kingdom) was crowned in London, UK. (Subsequently resigned)
- 1983: Sarah-Jane Hutt (United Kingdom) was crowned in London, UK.
- 2007: Zhang Zilin (China) was crowned in Sanya, China.
- 2012: Yu Wenxia (China) was crowned in Ordos City, China.
Remarkably, all of the 6 Miss World winners and 7 Miss Universe winners from Venezuela won their titles abroad. That is, despite its small population, Venezuela is head and shoulders above everybody else in terms of wins outside their own country. What does this tell us?