“We love you, Jen.”

Those were the words of thanks and en­cour­age­ment from the Miss Trinidad and To­ba­go or­gan­i­sa­tion for Jenelle Thongs who rep­re­sent­ed this coun­try at the Miss Uni­verse pageant in Mex­i­co City.

Thongs, who was crowned Ms Con­ge­nial­i­ty last Thurs­day, did not ad­vance in the com­pe­ti­tion.

Vic­to­ria Kjær Theil­vig of Den­mark was crowned Miss Uni­verse 2024.

Kjaer, an an­i­mal pro­tec­tion ad­vo­cate who works in the di­a­mond sell­ing busi­ness, beat out Miss Nige­ria at the end of 73rd edi­tion of the com­pe­ti­tion in Mex­i­co City. Miss Mex­i­co placed third.

It is the first time a Dan­ish con­tes­tant has won Miss Uni­verse.

The pageant was held in the Mex­i­co City Are­na, an in­door venue with a ca­pac­i­ty for 20,000 peo­ple. Sup­port­ers in­side shout­ed and waved flags from coun­tries around the world.

Thongs, 32, re­ceived a bar­rage of crit­i­cism from so­cial me­dia users about her at­tire and ap­pear­ance. She re­spond­ed and said she was ris­ing above the noise.

Af­ter the com­pe­ti­tion, Miss Trinidad and To­ba­go post­ed: “We love You, Jen, For­ev­er, You are our Queen. Thank you for your rep­re­sen­ta­tion.”

Sat­ur­day night’s cer­e­mo­ny be­gan with 131 mari­achi mu­si­cians and singer Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas play­ing “Mex­i­cana”, a song cre­at­ed by Emilio Es­te­fan for the con­test.

The gala was host­ed by Mario López; Olivia Culpo, Miss Uni­verse 2012; pre­sen­ter Zuri Hall; and Catri­ona Gray, Miss Uni­verse 2018.

Or­gan­is­ers said that there were more than 120 con­tes­tants.

This year some coun­tries were rep­re­sent­ed for the first time, such as Be­larus, Er­itrea, Guinea, Macau, Mal­dives, Moldo­va and Uzbek­istan.

This is the third time that Mex­i­co has host­ed Miss Uni­verse.