Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica crowned Miss World; Suman Rao second runner-up

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London, Dec15, 2019: Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh has bagged the Miss World 2019 at an annual beauty pageant held in ExceL London, with India’s Suman Rao becoming second runners-up.

The 23-year-old Jamaican was declared the winner at a televised event, hosted by British television personality Piers Morgan, held on Saturday.

Born to her Indo-Caribbean father Bradshaw Singh and African-Caribbean mother Jahrine Bailey, Singh is a student of women’s studies and psychology at Florida State University and she aspires to be a medical doctor.

During the competition, she earned a resounding applause from audiences for singing Whitney Houston’s hit "I Have Nothing". The Jamaican was crowned by last year’s winner, Vanessa Ponce de Leon of Mexico.

Singh celebrated her win on Instagram, expressing gratitude to her fellow Jamaican’s for "believing in me".

"My heart is filled with love and gratitude. Thank you so much for believing in me. You pushed me to believe in myself. I am not only honoured but humbled to be the 69th Miss World.

"Thank you to my family and to my friends. The love and support you poured into me now allows me to pour into the world. My mother @jahrinebailey, I love you I love you I love you. I wish to become even half the woman you are. You are my strength, my number one supporter/cheerleader/fan and my absolute best friend," she said.

Singh also urged girls all around the world to believe in themselves and their dreams.

She was closely followed by France’s Ophely Mezino, who was adjudged first runners-up, while India’s Suman Rao was declared second runners-up.

Suman Rao, who hails from Rajasthan won the Miss India 2019 title, in June this year. Expressing her happiness, she had earlier told IANS, "The fact that I am Miss India is sinking in... I am doing fine now. Of course, it is a dream, right? For me, before the competition started, winning was important and that is why I was working towards it. I am always focused and sincere. But now I know that more than the result, the desire of winning is important because that drives me to stay focused."

Suman had also said that she wanted to be the voice of gender equality in her community and try acting. "I want to be the voice of gender equality. I come from a community where girls go through quite a lot due to inequality, and that also regarding some of the very basic choices. I want to create awareness among them because freedom is about equal opportunity.

Rao, 20, a CA student hailing from Rajasthan, was crowned Miss India World 2019 in June this year.