Miss World TT Jeanine Brandt is among the top 40 contestants advancing to the semifinal round of the 2021 Miss World competition.

The competition will be held in Puerto Rico on March 16 after being postponed in December 2021 owing to covid19 cases among contestants and staff members. Brandt also tested positive in December.

Her advancement to the next round follows a week of mixed views from the public about remarks made to a judging panel of the pageant in which she claimed thousands of children in TT slept on floors and had little or no access to food, schooling or healthcare. The voices in opposition complained it was an inaccurate portrayal of the reality in TT, but other defended her stance.

In the video clip of her Beauty with a Purpose presentation, which was shared on social media, Brandt said, “In my country thousands of children live in poverty. Little girls sleep on the cold ground in makeshift homes. They have no access to running water, electricity. They cannot attend school. They have no access to healthcare, and they don’t even know where their next meal is coming from. No child deserves to grow up living under these conditions...

“I formed the Brandt Beauty Foundation to break the cycle of poverty among these families and these little girls and to give them opportunities to rewrite their dreams.”

After the announcement of her advancing to the semifinal round, Brian Gopaul, national director of the Miss World TT franchise, expressed gratitude to those who continue to support Brandt.

He told Newsday on Friday he was proud Brandt stayed true to herself during the firestorm, and thanked her for representing the country well on the international stage.

Gopaul was also proud about it being the second consecutive year a TT delegate has advanced to the semifinals in the competition.

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