Second Miss Universe judge steps down on eve of pageant finale

The 74th Miss Universe Pageant has suffered yet another blow, as its second judge stepped down ahead of the main competition scheduled for Friday, November 21, 2025, in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 74th Miss Universe Pageant Preliminary Competition has concluded, and the grand finale will be held tomorrow, Friday, November 21

This follows a viral video showing its director, Nawat Itsaragrisil, making derogatory comments to Miss Mexico, which sparked backlash online.

French soccer manager and former soccer pro Claude Makelele announced his resignation in an Instagram post shared on November 18, 2025.

He wrote, “Regretfully, I will not be attending Miss Universe 2025. Thank you for your understanding and support.”

However, Makelele did not state a reason for his resignation but expressed hope for “better circumstances” in the future.

“I sincerely apologize to the organization, the contestants, and everyone involved, and I hope to be able to contribute in the future under better circumstances,” he added.

On the other hand, Miss Universe has not released any statement related to the resignation of their second judge, Claude Makelele, but did issue a statement on the previous resignation of Omar Harfouch on Instagram.

The statement reads, “The Miss Universe Organization firmly clarifies that no impromptu jury has been created, that no external group has been authorized to evaluate delegates or select finalists.

“All competition evaluations continue to follow the established, transparent, and supervised MUO protocols,” the organization added.