Mara Štefica Topić Verduga represented the Ecuadorian community of the United States at Miss Universe Ecuador 2024 on June 8, 2024. She competed against 24 other candidates at the Parque Zoila Ugarte de Landívar in Machala, El Oro, Ecuador and won the title.
Miss Universe Ecuador 2025 contestants
On May 13, 2025, Concurso Nacional de Belleza Ecuador introduced 20 official candidates. Among them were Kimberly Seme Ospinoza, 29, of Orellana and Samantha Quenedit Sanchez, 25, of Quito.
After Seme’s withdrawal from the competition, only 19 candidates participated in the preliminary competition at the Centro de Convenciones Mall del Rio in Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador on July 18, 2025. At the end of the ceremony, Quenedit was crowned Miss Grand Ecuador 2025.
On July 26, 2025, the remaining 18 candidates will compete for the Miss Universe Ecuador 2025 crown at the Palacio de Cristal in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Here are their names, ages and the places they represent:
- Lisseth Naranjo Goya, 27, Azuay
- Gabriela Sánchez Núñez, 32, Chimborazo
- María José Otavalo, 28, Cuenca
- Melanie Montaleza, 29, El Oro
- Allinson Jácome, 20, Europe’s Ecuadorian community
- Shantal Degel Jácome, 28, Galápagos
- Cristiane Marques Das Neves, 28, Guayaquil
- Mariola Vejarano, 28, Guayas
- Priscilla Jijón, 25, Imbabura
- Barbara Alexandra Bernal Yanez, 22, Los Ríos
- Paula Vizcaíno, 21, Pichincha
- Andrea Gura, 24, Región Central
- Ariana Taranto, 35, Región Costa
- Christie Thermidor, 21, Región Sierra
- Kenia Bonilla, 29, Santo Domingo
- Paola Dayana Carrera, 25, Sucumbíos
- Daphne Currat Luna, 26, Tungurahua
- Nadia Grace Eicher Mejía, 29, United States’ Ecuadorian community
Ecuador currently has four Miss Universe placements, which were achieved by Lucia Vinueza, Susana Rivadeneira, Constanza Baez and Topic. On July 20, 1981, Vinueza competed against 75 other Miss Universe 1981 candidates at the Minskoff Theatre in New York City, New York, USA and finished in the Top 12.
On June 1, 2004, Rivadeneira competed against 79 other Miss Universe 2004 candidates at the Centro de Exposiciones y Convenciones Mitad del Mundo (CEMEXPO) in Quito, Ecuador and finished in the Top 10. When Baez competed against 85 other Miss Universe 2013 candidates at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow, Russia on November 9, 2013, she was second runner-up to Gabriela Isler of Venezuela.
On December 13, 2023, Tahiz Panus became the national director of Miss Universe Ecuador. On November 16, 2024, Topic represented Ecuador at Miss Universe 2024, competed against 124 other candidates at the Arena Ciudad de México in Azcapotzalco, Mexico City, Mexico and finished in the Top 30.
CONAN Daily 