Miss World 2002

Miss World 2002, the 52nd edition, was held on 7 December 2002 at Alexandra Palace in London, United Kingdom. Originally scheduled for Abuja, Nigeria, it was relocated to London after religious riots in nearby Kaduna linked to controversy over the event. Of 110 initially invited contestants, boycotts and withdrawals—many related to the Amina Lawal stoning case—reduced participation to 88. For the first time, audience text messaging was combined with judges’ scores to help select the Top 20. Azra Akın of Turkey won, crowned by Agbani Darego of Nigeria. Organizers claimed over 2 billion viewers across 137 countries; it was not broadcast on any UK channel.