Maria Victoria Kjær Theilvig (; born 13 November 2003) is a Danish model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Universe 2024 Miss Universe 2024 was the 73rd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico, on 16 November 2024. Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua crowned Victoria Kjær Theilvig of Denmark as her successor at the conclusion of the e ...

. Theilvig is the first Dane to win the title, and also the first woman with blond hair to win the title in more than 20 years.

Early life

Kjær Theilvig was born on 13 November 2003 in

Herlev Herlev is a suburb about 11 km northwest of Copenhagen city centre, bordering Rødovre to the south, Ballerup to the west and Gladsaxe Municipality, Gladsaxe to the north. It is the site of the municipal council of Herlev Municipality, Denma ...

, a suburb of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, where she was raised. Kjær Theilvig attended ''Lyngby Handelsgymnasium'', where she studied business and marketing. Kjær Theilvig afterwards became a professional dancer, and advocated for mental health awareness, animal rights, and entrepreneurship in the beauty industry.

Pageantry

Initial stints

Kjær Theilvig began competing in pageants after becoming a contestant for Miss Denmark 2021, where she placed as the second runner-up. She was appointed Miss Grand Denmark in 2022, which allowed her to compete in the Miss Grand International 2022 pageant, where she finished in the top 20.

Miss Universe 2024

In 2024, Kjær Theilvig was appointed Miss Universe Denmark after the winner of the Miss Denmark 2024 pageant, Emma Heyst, opted not to compete at

. Heyst was instead appointed Miss Universe Denmark 2025 and is slated to compete in the

Miss Universe 2025 Miss Universe 2025 will be the 74th Miss Universe pageant, scheduled to be held at the Impact Challenger Hall in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi, Thailand, on 21 November 2025. Victoria Kjær Theilvig of Denmark will crown her successor at the end of t ...

pageant. As Miss Universe Denmark, Kjær Theilvig competed in and won

, held on 16 November in Mexico City. Kjær Theilvig became the first Danish woman to be crowned Miss Universe and the first blonde winner since

Jennifer Hawkins Jennifer Hawkins-Wall (née Hawkins; born 22 December 1983) is an Australian TV host, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2004. She had previously been crowned Miss Universe Australia 2004. She was the host of '' Australia's ...

of Australia at Miss Universe 2004. She is the second Danish woman to win any of the

big four international beauty pageants The Big Four or the Big League Pageants refers to the four major international beauty pageants for women — Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth. The group was first described by the ''China Daily'' newspaper in ...

, following Catharina Svensson at Miss Earth 2001. During the preliminary competition, Kjær Theilvig presented a national costume as a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

warrior goddess with red and golden ornamentation. She progressed to the top five question-and-answer round, where she was asked about how differently she would live her life if she knew she would not be judged. In her answer, she stated that she would not change anything about her life and instead maintain a positive outlook on life. Kjær Theilvig then advanced to the top five question-and-answer round, where she was asked to address the women who were watching her. In response, she gave a message on resilience and self-confidence in one's aspirations. At the end of the event, Kjær Theilvig was crowned

by outgoing titleholder Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua. Accordingly, she is the first winner to wear the ''Light of Infinity'' golden pearl crown unveiled by the

Miss Universe Organization Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

that same year. In her capacity as Miss Universe, Kjær Theilvig traveled to Mexico, the United States, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, India, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and her home country of Denmark. In November 2024, Kjær Theilvig received criticism for mouthing the term "

nigga ''Nigga'' (), also known as "''the N-word''", is a colloquial term in African-American Vernacular English that is considered as a vulgar word in most contexts of its use. It began as a dialect form of the word ''nigger'', an ethnic slur agai ...

" while lip-syncing the original lyrics of the song "

Empire State of Mind "Empire State of Mind" is a song performed by American rapper Jay-Z featuring American singer Alicia Keys from the former's eleventh studio album, '' The Blueprint 3'' (2009). It was released by his then-newfound record label Roc Nation and Atl ...

" at the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

for a

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

video. While Miss Denmark Organization denied that she lip-synched the term, the video was removed from the site.

References

External links

* {{authority control 2003 births Danish beauty pageant winners Danish female models Living people Miss Grand International 2022 delegates Miss Universe 2024 contestants Miss Universe winners Models from Copenhagen Sportspeople from Herlev Municipality