Miss Universe winners from 1981 to 1990

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Irene Saez Miss Universe 1981 from Venezuela

Irene Lailin Sáez Conde was crowned Miss Universe in the year 1981. She has been a model, was the mayor of Chacao (a municipality of Caracas), Governor of the state of Nueva Esparta and a former presidential candidate. Irene Sáez led all the three semi final competitions, becoming the clear favourite for the crown. Her elegance and poise were undisputable the strongest and the beauty queen was also well-prepared. Her amicable behaviour and grace made her win the title.

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Karen Dianne Baldwin Miss Universe 1982 from Canada

Karen Dianne Baldwin became the first Canadian woman to win the Miss Universe title. Miss Universe. Shockingly, Karen was not among the favourites for the crown that year, but her undeniably strong personality and elegance made the fans and the judges believe that she has it in her to become the Miss Universe 1982. After passing on her crown in 1983, Karen hosted a Canadian fashion show and lifestyle television program, ‘The New You’. She was also one of the co-hosts of 1989 Miss Universe pageant. Karen now works as a film producer.

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Lorraine Downes Miss Universe 1983 from New Zealand

The 1983 Miss Universe pageant was won by Lorraine Downes from New Zealand. According to rumours, Miss Universe 1983 Lorraine Downes cried a lot after the pageant was over, as she never wanted to win. However, there is no proof for the same. Lorraine proved to be an amazing Miss Universe, and she only became more and more beautiful throughout her reign. Lorraine can be described as someone who was always down to earth and kind to others. However, the beauty never hid her pride for having conquered such an important title for her “small country”.

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Yvonne Ryding Miss Universe 1984 from Sweden

Yvonnee Ryding from Sweden won the 1984 Miss Universe title. Prior to being crowned Miss Sweden and competing in the Miss Universe pageant, Miss Ryding was a Swedish National Lucia Bride, formerly midfield soccer player and nurse. It was a well deerved victory for Yvonne, who, days before the finale, was voted the most deserving winner by the contestants. But Yvonne said she never expected to win, as her wardrobe was also limited and simpler as compared to that of the Latinas. Yvonne later worked as a model for few years in the USA and later in 1988 went back to Sweden.

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Deborah Carthy Deu Miss Universe 1985 from Puerto Rico

Deborah Carthy became the second woman from Puerto Rico to win the Miss Universe title in 1985. While she was in college, she was selected Miss San Juan on March 22, 1985 and later Miss Puerto Rico on April 27, 1985. On July 15, 1985, she was crowned Miss Universe 1985 representing Puerto Rico in Miami, Florida. Although the results of the finale were disappointing to many, Deborah had an excellent year as the Miss Universe 1985. Aside from representing her home country in the Miss Universe pageant, and winning this title, Deborah graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Puerto Rico and obtained the Theater Medal, awarded to the most distinguished graduate. She majored in Theater Arts and Education.

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Barbara Palacios Miss Universe 1986 from Venezuela

Bárbara Palacios from Venezuela won the Miss Universe 1986 title. She became the third woman from the country to win the title. Palacios has worked as a television host for over two decades, and has been a spokesperson for multinational corporations in the United States and Latin America. She has founded several advertising agencies, and as of 2010 owns Barbara Palacios Corporation, a U.S.-based company that commercializes women products, with lines of jewelry and beauty products sold in stores under her name in Florida, United States. She is a public speaker and an advocate and promoter of a holistic lifestyle.

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Cecilia Bolocco Miss Universe 1987 from Chile

Miss Universe 1987 was won by Chilean beauty Cecilia Bolocco. Cecilia has worked as a journalist on the Spanish language edition of CNN, on Telemundo and on various programs for Chilean Television. She has also acted on the soap opera Morelia. Although Chile was not among the favourite for the crown during the finale night, Cecilia won over the judges with her interview round. Chile won its first and so far the only Miss Universe title. In 2001, Cecilia made worldwide headlines, when she married Argentina President Carlos Menem.

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Porntip Nakhirunkanok Miss Universe 1988 from Thailand

Porntip Nakhirunkanok became the second woman from Thailand to win the Miss Universe title. Thailand impressed the judges after the semi-finalists interview and topped all the three competitions. After winning the title, Porntip was named as United Nations Goodwill Ambassador of Thailand. During the Olympics Opening Ceremony, Seoul, she walked with the Thai athletes and Olympic delegation. Through her own Angel Wings Foundation, the former Miss Universe is still continuing with her charity work.

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Angela Visser Miss Universe 1989 from Netherlands

Miss Universe 1989 concluded with the crowning of Holland beauty Angela Visser. A few months prior, she competed at Miss World 1988 where she did not place. Then, at Miss Universe 1989, Angela swept all three semi-finals competitions and it was obvious she was the virtually unanimous choice of the judges. Angel later became a TV presenter. She was in fact an excellent Miss Universe commentator from 1991 to 1994. She remains the only woman from Netherlands to be crowned Miss Universe.

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Mona Grudt Miss Universe 1990 from Norway

The first and only Norwegian woman so far to have won the Miss Universe title, Mona Grudt won the coveted title in 1990. She became the clear favorite of the judges, winning the interview and swimsuit preliminaries and all three segments of the semi-finals. During the 1990 Miss Universe competition, she listed herself as "The beauty queen from Hell" as a publicity stunt (because she was born in Hell, Norway; apart from that, 'hell' also means 'luck' in Norwegian). Her natural beauty, intelligence and grace, kept on impressing the judges throughout the pageant. She had a great reign, having appeared in several US TV shows. During her reign, she appeared in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as "Ensign Graham" in the episode "Identity Crisis". Grudt was also the last Miss Universe to accompany Bob Hope on his USO tour. She also hosted the 7th Cycle of Norway’s Next Top Model.