Meet Kaziah Liz Mejo: 19-year-old becomes Miss Universe India 2026
What's the story
Kaziah Liz Mejo, a 19-year-old law student and model from Mavelikkara, Kerala, has been crowned Miss Universe India 2026. She won the title at the grand finale held in Jaipur on August 23. With this victory, Mejo will represent India at the 75th Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico in November. The first runner-up and Miss International India 2026 was Vaishnavi Gannesh from Tamil Nadu, and Anushri Satavlekar from Gujarat was the second runner-up.
Pageant path
Mejo was 1st runner-up at Miss Teen International 2025
Mejo, who hails from Mavelikkara, is not new to the pageant world. She was India's representative at Miss Teen International 2025 and finished as the first runner-up.
The Miss Universe India pageant is organized by Glamanand Group since it acquired the Indian franchise in 2024. The first edition under this new franchise was held in 2024, with Rhea Singha winning the title.
Jury details
Sushmita Sen, Celina Jaitly, Urvashi Rautela were jury members
The finale of Miss Universe India 2026 was judged by a star-studded panel including Sushmita Sen, India's first Miss Universe (1994), Celina Jaitly (Miss Universe India 2001), and Urvashi Rautela (Miss Universe India 2015).
Other jury members were Singha (Miss Universe India 2024), film producer Pragya Kapoor, entrepreneur Visha Ladhia, Miss Charm 2025 Anna Blanco, and dermatologist Dr. Stuti Khare Shukla.
Selection procedure
Final contestants were selected from around 8,000-9,000 aspirants
The grand finale of Miss Universe India 2026 was held at Zee Studios in Jaipur, concluding months of auditions, grooming sessions, and preliminary competitions.
Organizers revealed that around 8,000 to 9,000 aspirants were considered during the selection process.
The final 52 contestants were chosen through regional state pageants, final auditions, wildcard entries, and an NRI category.
Congratulations to the winners!