The four title winners of this year’s Miss Nepal beauty pageant are gearing up to participate in corresponding international pageants in the coming months, The Hidden Treasure—organisers of Miss Nepal—announced on Monday. Miss Nepals Nikita Chandak, Rojina Shrestha, Niti Shah and Sahara Basnet will be contesting for the Miss World, Miss Earth, Miss International and Miss Asia-Pacific crowns, respectively. Along with the 2017 winners, Nagma Shrestha, who was recently crowned Miss Nepal Universe 2017, is also slated to participate in the 66th Miss Universe pageant. 

Speaking to the Post about the impending departures, Gopal Kakshapati, chairman of The Hidden Treasure, said, “It has been an incredible year. We have five beautiful women who’ll be representing Nepal in five different pageants and countries—it feels surreal. The preparation is in full swing, everything is on track, most of the things are covered and we have 100 percent of expectations from these talented young women.” He further informed that from 2018 onwards, the Miss Nepal will have five titleholders who will be crowned during the gala event. 

Nikita Chandak, who won the coveted Miss Nepal World title, also confirmed that she would be leaving for Sanya, China in a fortnight to participate in the Miss World pageant slated for Nov 18. Chandak who’ll be flaunting designer Manish Rai’s gown during the finale said, “The preparation for Miss World begun right after Miss Nepal concluded. From approaching designers for their creations to working on the ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ subtitle, it has been a lot of fruitful work.”

Chandak will be speaking about her campaign for menstrual hygiene awareness in three villages in Dailekh at the subtitle’s contest.

Meanwhile, Nagma Shrestha, who was confirmed as Nepal’s first ever representative to the Miss Universe two weeks ago, was nervously excited about her prospects.

“Unlike other titleholders, I only have a month to prepare for everything,” she said, “Although I have participated in pageants before, this time the pressure is immense—Miss Universe is a big deal but I am really looking forward to it.”

According to the Hidden Treasure, Rojina Shrestha will be leaving for Manila, Philippines on Friday, while Niti Shah will be departing for Tokyo, Japan on Oct 24. Sahara Basnet will also be travelling to Manila on Nov 9, while Nagma Shrestha will be in Las Vegas for the Miss Universe crown.