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Ask any pageant fanatic, and they will tell you that Miss Universe is one of the most prestigious pageant titles in the world.
While Venezuela, Philippines and Puerto Rico reign supreme at the international pageant, most countries have taken the crown at least once - with four securing sandwich victories!
ALSO READ: These countries reign supreme at Miss Universe and Miss World - and SA is not that far behind
What's a sandwich win, you ask? And, no it doesn't have anything to do with luncheon meat!
The term is used to describe a victory when a country secures a win on alternate years. When a country wins the pageant in the first year, does not win the next year, but is crowned again in the third year, it's referred to as a sandwich win.
The USA is the only country to have nabbed a sandwich win not once but twice in its pageant history at Miss Universe.
TAKE A LOOK AT THE FOUR WINS HERE:
1. The world witnessed its first-ever sandwich win in 1956 when Carol Morris from the USA was crowned Miss Universe two years after Miriam Stevenson in 1954.
2. 23 years later Maritza Sayalero took home Venezuela's first Miss Universe title, followed by Irene Saez in 1981.
3. Remember when we said the USA achieved the feat twice?
Still, the only country to do so, Chelsi Smith and Brook Lee won the Miss Universe crown respectively in 1995 and 1997.
At 18 years old Margaret was the first South African to win the Miss Universe title in 1978. And for 39 years she was the only South African to do so until Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters brought home the crown in 2017.
In 2018, Tamaryn Green from Paarl narrowly missed out on the title, placing second. But 2019 marked the fourth sandwich win when Zozibini Tunzi reigned supreme.
Special mention: While Miss Universe scooped four sandwich victories, Miss World has achieved success with this rare win only once. India's Diana Hayden and Yukta Mookhey won in 1997 and 1999 respectively.
ALSO READ: 5 Miss South Africa winners who took home the crown on a second (or third!) attempt
