Priyanka Chopra Claims To Be The Only 'Millennium' Miss World; There Is Not Going To Be Another One In Our Lifetimes...'

Priyanka Chopra, who was 18 at the time, was named the winner of the Miss World 2000 beauty pageant. The actor pondered on her time as Miss India and her Miss World crown as she talked about the competition that took place at the Millennium Dome in London, UK. Priyanka said she was the "Millennium Miss World" in a recent interview.

When asked about her participation in pageants, Priyanka remarked that they were "really revered" in India. She said, "How eloquently you speak, how you behave," is really important. Priyanka also discussed how she learned she had been chosen to represent India as Miss India 2000. She recalled telling her mother Madhu Chopra at the time that she was 'so famous' that even the Miss India pageant's runners knew who she was. Priyanka also stated that she had a "really high opinion" of herself because she had returned from "America" to India around that time. On The Howard Stern Show, when asked if pageants were a "whole industry" in India like they are in the US, Priyanka responded, "No, they (Miss India pageant runners) gave us 30 days for prep. Now, I am a competitive girl, and I am very prep-oriented... excepting me everyone else at the pageant was a model. They made us meet experts for hair and makeup, elocution, speaking, talking, and walking; all of that happened over 30 days... I just observed and learned and learned, and absorbed as much as I could. I was like the one thing I can do is be smart up there (on stage during the pageant), and I know that in India, they look for that. You want the person representing the country to be well-spoken, presentable, traditional, a good ambassador for your country." Priyanka went on to speak about how she competed against '96 ladies from around the world at the Miss World 2000 competition. She said, "I was 18. Jerry Springer, RIP, was our host that year. It was in London, it was called the millennium year. So, I am the Millennium Miss World. I guess there is not going to be another one in our lifetimes... it (the Miss World pageant) was a matter of life and death for me. There was nothing else that mattered to me. I was like an athlete. I was like 'Now that I am here, I can't lose it. I am too near, too close. I didn't aim for this, but now that I am here, I see the finish line. It was just that I am competitive." Following her win as Miss World 2000, Priyanka entered the acting world and made her acting debut in the Tamil film Thamizhan (2002). The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003) was her first Bollywood production. In the past year, her web series Citadel had its Prime Video debut. The romantic comedy Love Again starring Sam Heughan and Celine Dion is one of her future ventures.