Pamala Serena to represent UAE at Mrs World 2022 this month

Pamala Serena will head to Las Vegas this month as the second official Mrs UAE World contestant.

She follows in the footsteps of Debanjali Kamstra, the UAE's first Mrs World contestant, who last year made it to the top three in the global pageant.

Serena, who has also been named Mrs Universe Dubai 2021, will represent the country at the pageant, which “celebrates the uniqueness of married women”, on December 16 and 17 at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino in Nevada.

The beauty queen, who is of Indian descent, was born and raised in the UK, but has been living in Dubai for more than 10 years.

Scroll through the gallery below to see photos of Debanjali Kamstra, the first Mrs UAE world

Kamstra, 35, an Indian businesswoman and mother-of-two, has called the UAE home for the past 14 years. All photos by Mahmoud Marei, Syed Kamran Ali unless stated otherwise

Serena is a psychology graduate who is also an ambassador of peace for the UN.

"Honored, humble & grateful to be the Reigning Mrs UAE World 2022," Serena wrote on Instagram after her title was made official.

"If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want. What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MRS. UAE WORLD PAGEANT 🇦🇪 (@mrsuaeworldofficial)

The UAE had never appeared on the Mrs World stage before last year, when Kamstra, an Indian businesswoman who’s called the UAE home for the past 14 years, applied to participate.

“It was a friend who encouraged me to apply,” she told The National. "I immediately got a call back from Mrs World saying they were surprised because no one from the UAE had ever applied before. We then did a couple of rounds of interviews before I was told I'd been selected as Mrs UAE World.

Miss Universe 2022: Everything you need to know about the New Orleans pageant

“They understand the UAE and that so many expatriates call it home. So, me not being a citizen was not an issue for them,” she says. “Also, our UAE leaders have made it very clear that everyone living here should consider this as their country and their home. So that encouraged me.”

Kamstra, who had consistently been one of the top contenders in the public vote, narrowly missed out on securing the crown at the pageant in January.

She made it to the top three, finishing as second runner-up. Mrs American Shaylyn Ford won the contest, followed by Mrs Jordan Jaclyn Stapp as first runner-up.

From left, Catherine Muldoon, Miss Teen USA New York, Melania Knauss, Donald Trump and Jaclyn Nesheiwat (Stapp), Miss USA New York, in June 2004. Getty Images

Kamstra has been working ever since to promote Mrs World within the UAE and encourage fellow beauty queens.

The Mrs World contest has been held since 1984. Cancelled last year due to the pandemic, the pageant made global news last April when title holder Caroline Jurie resigned amid controversy surrounding a crown-snatching incident at a Sri Lankan beauty contest. Kate Schneider from Ireland, the first runner-up, was named the new Mrs World 2020.

To enter, contestants must be married at the date of entry, be at least 18 years old and be a resident of the country for which they compete, with organisers looking for “poised, articulate and stunning” women.