Miss World pageant incurs major losses due to last-minute COVID cancellation

Miss World 2021 event lost millions in production costs when the pageant was cancelled at the last-minute earlier this month after more than 20 participants tested positive for COVID-19.

“They lost millions in set cost to produce the pageant,” source close to the pageant told Page Six, with the production cost estimated to be around $5 million.

The annual mega event, which judges contestants on the basis of their philanthropic work instead of looks, was scheduled to be held on December 16 in Puerto Rico but was shelved hours before starting.

According to reports, 23 out of 97 contestants had tested positive in addition to 15 members of the staff.