On November 20, 1970, the Miss World contest took place at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Before the evening even began, the event was already surrounded by tension. Organizers had allowed two entries from South Africa — one Black contestant and one white — a decision that drew immediate backlash. Women’s liberation activists staged a protest inside the hall, throwing flour and disrupting the broadcast. Host Bob Hope was heckled from the audience. The BBC was airing the contest live, and millions of viewers watched the chaos unfold.
58 contestants competed that night, representing countries from around the world. Miss Sweden, Marjorie Christel Johansson, was widely expected to take the crown. But when the judges’ scores were tallied, the result surprised nearly everyone in the building.
Jennifer Hosten of Grenada was crowned Miss World 1970, becoming the first Black woman to win the title. She was 22 years old. Pearl Jansen, the Black South African contestant, finished in second place. The crowd outside the Royal Albert Hall chanted “Sweden, Sweden” in protest. The BBC and newspapers received a flood of complaints, with accusations of racism coming from multiple directions.
The controversy centered on the voting. Miss Sweden had received four first-place votes from individual judges, while Hosten received only two. However, under the contest’s majority voting system — which counted overall points across all positions — Hosten scored higher than Miss Sweden. Eric Morley, chairman of the Miss World franchise, produced the original ballot cards to back up the result. The cards showed that Hosten placed above Miss Sweden and the other four finalists in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th position counts. Miss Sweden ultimately finished fourth.
Adding fuel to the fire was the presence of Eric Gairy, the Premier of Grenada, on the judging panel. Critics argued his inclusion was a conflict of interest, given that Hosten represented Grenada. Judges from other nations also sat on the panel, but the complaints kept coming. Julia Morley, the organizing director and wife of Eric Morley, resigned just four days after the contest due to the pressure from the press. Years later, Marjorie Christel Johansson stated publicly that she had been cheated out of the title.
Despite the uproar, Hosten’s win stood. She was crowned on stage by Bob Hope in front of a live television audience. The moment was historic regardless of the political storm that followed. Below are glamorous photos of Jennifer Hosten from the Miss World 1970 contest.
