The heads of the Miss World organization recently announced that they have made the decision to completely ban the swimsuit competition from the pageant in a bid to focus more on the contestants' charity works, People reported.
Miss World chairwoman Julia Morley and the national director of Miss World America/Miss United States organization Chris Wilmer broke the news to ABC News.
"It isn't the path they're trying to take," Wilmer said about why the swimsuit competition was taken out of the pageant. "It's not just a beauty contest. It's 'beauty with a purpose'. There didn't seem to be a purpose to have the swimsuit."
The organization felt that Miss World should be a "spokesperson who can help a community" and "more of an ambassador" instead of being a beauty queen. This is why the Miss World pageant will be putting more focus into the contestants' charity work and "what a woman could do with a title like Miss World."
Wilmer was full of praises for the decision, saying, "Julia getting rid of swimsuit and making it more of a lifestyle competition sends a strong message and I applaud her for it."
It will not be the end of the bikinis segment though, as the pageant will reportedly now have a beachwear round instead. This time, it will be more of a fashion competition than a swimsuit show.
After the announcement, reception from social media was mixed, according to US Weekly. Some users congratulated the decision and were happy to see the focus shift to a respectable endeavor such as charity work, while some were less receptive to the idea, with one even noting why the contestants shouldn't show off their "magnificent" bodies.
This will be the first time in 63 years that the pageant will not be showing off its contestants in their swimsuits. Miss World 2014, which crowned Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss, marks the final appearance of the swimsuit competition in the pageant.