When Aishwarya Rai asked Miss World organisers to remove swimwear round from beauty pageant: 'It wasn't comfortable...'

Aishwarya Rai was crowned Miss World in 1994 and became only the second Indian to win the title after Reita Faria in 1966. She became known internationally after winning the crown and later went to have a career in both Bollywood and Hollywood films. The former beauty queen, in the past, has spoken up about certain aspects of the competition that made her ‘uncomfortable’. She deemed it unnecessary to have contestants wear bikinis and swimsuits to win the title. (Also read: When Abhishek Bachchan shared how Aishwarya Rai gave him the confidence he never had before)

In an old press conference from 2017, the actor shared her feelings on the swimwear round in competition. She also shared that she had spoken with the organisers of the tournament to remove it altogether. She said, "In fact, 1994 mein mere pageant ke baad (after my pageant), that year 1995 onwards hi unhone woh round cancel kar diya tha kyunke maine kaha ki (they cancelled that round as I had said) it wasn't very naturally comfortable for some of us, nationalities. I wasn't speaking solely for me, but I was really speaking for a lot of girls from countries where the swimwear round was not necessary... swimwear is not a natural way of life in terms of social display."

Eventually, the Miss World organisation removed the swimsuit round from the competition in 2014 to keep the focus more on 'brains and personality' instead of just physical beauty. Miss World chairwoman Julia Morley told Elle Magazine, "I don't need to see women just walking up and down in bikinis. It doesn't do anything for the woman. And it doesn't do anything for any of us."

Aishwarya made her acting debut with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar in 1997. Her first Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, opposite Bobby Deol, also came out in 1997. She got married to actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007; they have a 11-year-old daughter Aaradhya Bachchan.

The actor was last seen in the Tamil Ponniyin Selvan-1 where she once again reunited with her first director Mani. She plays a double role in the period drama as Queen Nandini and Mandakini. The second film in the saga, Ponniyin Selvan 2, will be released on April 28, 2023. The ensemble cast also includes Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha, Jayaram, Aishwarya Lekshmi, and Sobhita Dhulipala.