Location and date , the venue of the national costume round The
Miss Universe Organization was in talks to host the pageant in China. Negotiations collapsed after the Chinese refused to broadcast the pageant live. Afterward, the Miss Universe Organization opened negotiations with the Philippines after they had previously hosted
Miss Universe 2016. In April 2018, then-
Secretary of Tourism Wanda Tulfo Teo spoke with
President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte regarding the possibility of hosting the pageant in
Boracay in November. On 18 May, Tulfo-Teo's successor
Bernadette Romulo-Puyat announced that the country dropped the hosting bid due to budget constraints and other concerns. Romulo-Puyat also pointed out that the Philippines had hosted the pageant recently in 2016, and had no reason to do so again so soon. On 31 July, Miss Universe Organization President, Paula Shugart announced in a live press conference at the
Bangkok Art and Culture Centre that the 2018 pageant would be held in
Bangkok, Thailand on 17 December. The city had previously hosted the Miss Universe pageant twice, in
1992 and
2005. The reigning Miss Universe
Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters with
Miss Universe 1965 Apasra Hongsakula and
Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova participated in the announcement.
Selection of participants Contestants from ninety-four countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Nine of these delegates were appointees to their titles after being a runner-up of their national pageant or an audition process or other internal selection.
Ángela Ponce of Spain was the first openly
transgender delegate to compete in the pageant. Despite not being one of the twenty semi-finalists, Ponce was recognized by the Miss Universe Organization for her historical importance during the competition. The pageant rules were changed to allow transgender women to compete in 2012.
Replacements Zoé Brunet, the first runner-up of
Miss Belgium 2018, was appointed to represent Belgium after Miss Belgium 2018 Angeline Flor Pua chose to compete in
Miss World 2018.
Eva Colas of France and
Magdalena Swat were also appointees to their titles after their original titleholders,
Miss France 2018 Maëva Coucke and
Miss Polonia 2017 Agata Biernat respectively, were unable to compete because of commitments to
Miss World 2018. Coucke and Pua competed in the pageant
the following year.
Debuts, returns and withdrawals The 2018 edition saw the debuts of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia and the returns of Belize, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Kenya, Kosovo, and Switzerland. Greece last competed in
Miss Universe 2015, and the others in
Miss Universe 2016. Austria, Ethiopia, Iraq, Romania, Slovenia, and Tanzania withdrew after their respective organizations lost their Miss Universe license, failed to hold a national competition or designate a contestant. Guyana was suspended from participating in Miss Universe due to a controversy involving "nasty emails" and "death threats" sent to the organization over a delegate issue in 2017. No license holder replaced the previous license holder, forcing the country to withdraw. Trinidad and Tobago withdrew after they announced that there would be no pageant held, despite
Martrecia Alleyne having crowned as Miss Universe Trinidad and Tobago 2018 at their 2017 national pageant.
Marie Esther Bangura of Sierra Leone arrived in Bangkok after registrations had ended, and was unable to participate due to visa and logistical concerns. However, she was allowed to participate in the pageant's activities and watch the competition from the audience. She was also invited to compete
in the next edition of the pageant. ==Results==