"Turning the Girls" - Miss World contest swimsuit format in the 1960s

**katwalk** Sun May 07, 2023 6:30 pm

Believe it or not, when I started to watch the Miss World contest in the 1960s, it was an annual feature of the semi-final round that the girls in their swimsuits were made to turn their backs on the judges to have their backsides assessed!!

I remember the 1969 event in particular. It was staged at London's Royal Albert Hall for the first time. The larger venue lent itself to greater spectacle, and Pete Murray, the BBC TV and radio presenter, was keen to make this part of the show as entertaining as possible.

So when the moment came to start "turning the girls", he barked out the instruction "Turn!" like a sergeant-major conducting a military drill!

The 15 semi-finalists had to make four turns, each of 90 degrees. The second of these involved turning directly away from the judges, the audience and the TV viewers so that the girls' rear views became the full focus of attention. The line-up remained "standing to attention" with their bottoms on display and their faces completely hidden.

There was laughter, cheering and prolonged applause in the hall before the next command of "Turn!" was issued.

Miss World continued to "turn the girls" until the 1973 contest. It stopped the practice that year after complaints that it degraded the contestants.

Here's how they looked in 1969.

"Turning the Girls" - Miss World contest swimsuit format in the 1960s 97SoE3

**Farah Vavaihan** Mon May 08, 2023 5:23 pm

Thanks for sharing! I wish the swimsuit segment is back

**katwalk** Mon May 08, 2023 7:32 pm

Farah Vavaihan wrote:Thanks for sharing! I wish the swimsuit segment is back

Glad you liked it!

Here's another example of "Turning the Girls", from the 1967 Miss World contest. They really do stand to attention for the judges to size up their rear views Very Happy

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"Turning the Girls" - Miss World contest swimsuit format in the 1960s 9NrSkC

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"Turning the Girls" - Miss World contest swimsuit format in the 1960s

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