Harnaaz Sandhu

 ( 2000 Births ) 

In 2006, she moved to England, before returning to India two years later and settling in Chandigarh. She attended Shivalik Public School and the Post Graduate Government College for Girls, both in Chandigarh. Prior to becoming Miss Universe, Sandhu was pursuing a master's degree in public administration. In addition to her native language Punjabi, Sandhu is also fluent in Hindi and English.

She auditioned for the regional Femina Miss Punjab 2019 contest, and emerged as the winner. This gave her the right to participate in Femina Miss India 2019.

She was one of the top 10 semifinalists at the main contest. During the opening statement round, she said:

During the final question and answer round, as one of the top 5 contestants, she had selected "Global Warming and Climate Change", to which she said:

At the end of the event, Sandhu was crowned as the winner by the outgoing titleholder Adline Castelino, and went on to represent India at the Miss Universe 2021.

During the top 5 question and answer round, Sandhu picked Rena Sofer, who asked her "many people think climate change is a hoax, what would you do to convince them to take it seriously?" She answered:

Advancing to the top 3, in the final question and answer portion, host Steve Harvey asked: "What advice would you give to young women watching on how to deal with the pressures they face today?" Sandhu replied:

Sandhu was announced Miss Universe 2021 by host Steve Harvey and crowned by the outgoing titleholder Andrea Meza of Mexico.

As Miss Universe, Sandhu traveled to Israel, various cities within the United States, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Africa, Colombia, Thailand, and her home country of India.

On 14 January 2023, Sandhu crowned R'Bonney Gabriel of the United States as her successor at Miss Universe 2022 at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.