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Misbah Arshad has been crowned the new Miss Universe Pakistan after a hotly contested selection process. She will be the fourth Pakistani to represent the country on the Miss Universe stage.

The announcement was made at a ceremony in the Philippines, where Arshad was presented her sash by Miss Universe Pakistan franchise owner Josh Yugen and crowned by her predecessor Roma Riaz. A video of the moment was shared by the organisation on its social media channels.

The moment that sealed her win was the final question she was asked before the decision was made. Philippine musician and actor Bailey May asked her who would ask her the tougher question if she was placed in a room with her 10-year-old and 80-year-old selves.

Arshad said the 10-year-old would have the more difficult question, because she would ask her how life turned out. She said she’d explain that she failed at many junctures and the point was to keep rising through it all.

“I would tell her that it’s a beautiful cycle of life and that we shouldn’t just embrace it, but truly enjoy it. Because the hotter the fire, the purer the gold.”

Arshad is a psychology student with prior pageant experience. She represented Pakistan at the Miss International 2023 pageant in Japan and the Miss Supranational 2024 pageant in Poland. She will now be heading to Puerto Rico for the 75th edition of Miss Universe.

In a post celebrating her victory, the newly crowned beauty queen shared something she had learnt in life: “Failure doesn’t define whether you are a winner or not. What does is keeping hope alive, continuing to put effort and becoming better with every step.”

She said that while she may have secured the crown, the “true prize” was the journey to it, along with all the lessons she learnt and people she met. “Thank you to every single person who has been part of this path and supported me along the way,” she said.

She also touched on the symbolism of the dress she chose to wear to her coronation — a white gown with a crystal encrusted bodice from Vietnamese designer Nguyễn Tiến Truyển.

She said the white represented hope and “a reminder to never stop believing in your dreams”, while the royal blue crystals were symbols of “education and knowledge” gathered through constant learning.