Miss World 2009

Miss World 2009, the 59th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 12 December 2009 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. 112 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown, marking the biggest turnout in the pageant's history. Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia crowned her successor Kaiane Aldorino of Gibraltar at the end of event. It is the first time that someone from Gibraltar won Miss World.

Selection of participants
Contestants from 112 countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Six of them are runners-up after the withdrawal of the original contestant in their respective countries and territories.

Replacements
Due to the media attention following the allegations against her, Rachel Christie decided to withdraw from the and relinquish her Miss England crown. She was replaced by Katrina Hodge. Alessandra Alores of Germany was disqualified due to several nude pictures of her on the Internet. She was replaced by Stefanie Peeck. Sofia Rudieva of Russia was allowed to compete in Miss Universe 2009 by the Miss Universe Organization, but the Miss World Organization did not accept her as a contestant due several nude pictures of her on the Internet. She was replaced by Ksenia Shipilova. Cinthia D'Ottone of Uruguay was replaced at the last minute by Claudia Vanrell due to D'Ottone's health related issues. Trần Thị Hương Giang was appointed to represent Vietnam at Miss World 2009. She is the 2nd runner-up of Miss Vietnam Global 2009.

Ris Low, Miss Singapore World 2009, backed out of the finals at Miss World 2009. Her decision came after a slew of negative media reports in which she incurred the ire of the public for her poor English. Later, news of her conviction for credit card fraud in May also surfaced, after she stole credit cards worth $6000. She was sentenced to two years' probation for credit card fraud. There was a national petition for her to step down. Then, Ris Low was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The first runner-up Claire Lee, declined to represent Singapore due to a back injury which prevents her from standing for long periods of time, and also as Ris Low accused her of backstabbing her, and she withdrew from the pageant immediately. Claire Lee also rebutted Ris Low's allegations on her blog. On 9 October, ERM World Marketing announced Pilar Carmelita Arlando as the new Miss Singapore World 2009, who represented Singapore at the Miss World contest. She was criticised by many netizens for not knowing who's the first president of Singapore, not knowing how many years Singapore has been independent, and claiming that the Merlion, a symbol of Singapore, became extinct in 1965, unaware that the Merlion is a fictitious animal.

Selection committee

 * Julia Morley – Chairwoman of the Miss World Organization
 * Priyanka Chopra – Miss World 2000 from India
 * Zhang Zilin – Miss World 2007 from China
 * Mike Dixon – Musical Director
 * JJ Schoeman – Designer
 * Lindiwe Mahlangu-Kwele – CEO Johannesburg Tourism Company
 * Graham Cooke – MD World Travel Group
 * Warren Batchelor – Executive Producer of Miss World 2009

Contestants
112 contestants competed for the title.

Returns

 * Last competed in 1985:
 * 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire
 * Last competed in 1990:
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
 * Last competed in 2006:
 * 🇱🇷 Liberia
 *  Tahiti
 * Last competed in 2007:
 * 🇲🇰 Macedonia
 * 🇳🇵 Nepal
 * 🇵🇦 Panama
 * 🇷🇴 Romania
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia
 * 🇸🇷 Suriname

Withdrawals

 *  Antigua & Barbuda – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
 * 🇰🇾 Cayman Islands – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship for the national pageant
 * 🇨🇱 Chile – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship for the national pageant
 *  Chinese Taipei – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
 *  Congo DR – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
 *  St. Kitts & Nevis – Venetta Zakers, the winner of the Miss World Saint Kitts and Nevis 2009 pageant, did not compete in Miss World 2009 due to communication problems between her and the national pageant organisation. However, the pageant was held again in 2010 to select the representative for Miss World 2010.
 * 🇱🇨 Saint Lucia – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
 * 🇸🇨 Seychelles – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship

Did not compete

 * 🇬🇩 Grenada - Tamara Lawrence