Lara Dutta lauds Miss Universe for allowing married women and mothers' participation: 'It's an incredible step'

Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta has reacted to the renowned beauty pageant' decision to allow married women and mothers' participation.

Last month, the Miss Universe beauty pageant announced that it will be expanding eligibility for the competition by allowing mothers and married women to enter the contest. Now Miss Universe 2000, Lara Dutta has reacted to the news and called it an ‘incredible decision'.

Lata Dutta won the Miss Universe title in 2000.

The Miss Universe pageant's regulations have always required that winners be single and maintain their status as such throughout their reign after winning the title. But now a participant's marital or parental status will no longer be criteria for eligibility for pageant contestants starting in 2023.

In an interview with ETimes, Lara Dutta said, "It's an incredible step in the right direction. Now we are talking about inclusion and this conversation has been happening around the world for years now. You know everything is evolving and so the concept of beauty pageant has also evolved over the years."

She added, “I think it is fantastic that they are now allowing mothers and married women to come in. There are some incredible women out there who feel that they don't have the opportunity to participate because they don't qualify for it and also this will help some really incredible women to come forward. Women that need to be celebrated and the women we need to empower. I think it's a good step.”

Lara rose to fame after she won the title of Miss Universe in 2000. It was the second time in the history of the beauty pageant that an Indian had won the title, the first being Sushmita Sen in 1994. Lara then made her Bollywood debut with Andaaz, alongside Priyanka Chopra, who was crowned Miss World in 2000 as well. The film starred Akshay Kumar in the lead.

Lara later appeared in films such as Bhagam Bhag, Kaal, Partner, Chalo Dilli and the Don series. She made her comeback with the Disney+ Hotstar web series Hundred in 2020. She was later seen in Hiccups And Hookups, which also starred Prateik Babbar and Shinnova. Her last project was Kaun Banegi Shikharwati, which released on Disney+ Hotstar in January.