The Miss Universe competition’s upcoming shift to the Roku Channel also comes with two new hosts: Former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo and Jeannie Mai Jenkins (“The Real”) will lead the proceedings on this year’s telecast, set to take place Saturday, January 14, from New Orleans.
Culpo and Jenkins replace Steve Harvey, who had hosted for five years (with the exception of 2021, when that pact was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Harvey had been a part of Fox’s deal with Miss Universe. Last month, PvNew exclusively reported that the 71stMiss Universecompetition is the latest TV event making the move to streaming, as TheRoku Channel sealed a one-year deal to be the official English-language U.S. home for Miss Universe. The event also airs here in Spanish on Telemundo.
Culpo was crowned Miss Universe 2012; since then she has starred in the TLC series “The Culpo Sisters,” has invested and served as a creative director for canned cocktail company Vide, and also spent time as a model, actress and social media influencer. Mai Jenkins won a Daytime Emmy for hosting “The Real,” and currently hosts Amazon Freevee’s “America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation.” She has been seen as a commentator in the past for the Miss Universe and Miss USA competitions.
Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and “Emmy award winning television personality, “American Ninja Warrior” co-host and “Access Hollywood” correspondent Zuri Hall will serve as backstage
commentators.
“This organization had such an impact on my life and I’m so thankful for the
experiences I had with my Miss Universe family,” Culpo says. “I have so much respect for the continuous
evolution of the Miss Universe Organization, including the new female ownership for the first
time in the company’s history.”
Added Mai Jenkins: “I could not be more excited to be back with the Miss Universe Organization alongside all of the incredible women who are traveling to New Orleans from around the globe. I am so honored to be able to celebrate them and all the amazing changes the organization has
been making over the past year to push women’s stories further worldwide.”
The organization was just purchased in October by Thailand-basedJKN Global Group PCL(run by CEO Anne Jukapong Jakrajutatip) from previous owner IMG.
“With Culpo as a successful former titleholder and Jeannie’s work in redefining what it means to be a working mother, both women are true examples of the momentum the Miss Universe Organization is building,” said Miss Universe Organization CEO Amy Emmerich in a statement. Added president Paula Shugart: “From our two multihyphenate female hosts to our female producer and new
female ownership, this year’s show will truly be a celebration of women created by women.”
