Lara Dutta praises Miss Universe for allowing participation from married women and moms

Lara Dutta, Miss Universe 2000, has praised the prestigious beauty pageant’s decision to include married women and mothers to compete

The Miss Universe beauty pageant said last month that it will be extending the competition’s eligibility to include moms and married women. Lara Dutta, Miss Universe 2000, responded to the news by calling it an amazing move.

The Miss Universe pageant’s rules have always stipulated that winners must be unmarried and continue to be such for the duration of their reign after taking home the crown. But starting in 2023, a contestant’s married or parental status won’t be a factor in determining their eligibility.

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Lara Dutta remarked in an interview with ETimes, “The move is a fantastic one in the correct path. Now that we are discussing inclusiveness, people all around the world have been having this discussion for some time. As you are aware, everything is always changing, and through time, the idea of a beauty contest has changed as well.”

She added, “I think it is fantastic that they are now allowing mothers and married women to come in. There are some incredible women out there who feel that they don’t have the opportunity to participate because they don’t qualify for it and also this will help some really incredible women to come forward. Women that need to be celebrated and the women we need to empower. I think it’s a good step.”

Lara became well-known after she was crowned Miss Universe in 2000. In the competition’s history, an Indian has won the championship twice; the first time was Sushmita Sen in 1994. After that, Lara made her Bollywood debut in the movie Andaaz opposite Priyanka Chopra, who was also named Miss World in 2000. Akshay Kumar played the lead in the movie.