A Maltese youth has been given the bronze in an international beauty pageant that set men from all over the world against each other in a battle of looks. Bjorn Camilleri was the second runner up in the Man Of The World pageant in the Philippines. Promoting the theme of Masculinity with a Responsibility, the event saw Camilleri stun crowds and get a place on the podium.

“Yesterday was the best night of my life! I managed to achieve my goal by shedding bright light on the name of Malta by ranking with the top 3 in an international pageant. I would like to thank all of those who gave me their support throughout my journey especially all the Filippinos for their amazing warm welcome that they gave me from the very start. See you all very soon as I shall be begin my journey back to Malta tomorrow,” posted Bjorn in a celebratory post after his successful run.

Camilleri placed second from 26 contestants, beating out the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Valenta (3rd runner-up), and Thailand’s Natapol Srisarn (4th runner-up).

Vietnam’s Xuan Tai won first place, with the judges and crowd praising his big smile. But as far as the Maltese are concerned, Camilleri will always be in first place.

Do you think Bjorn deserved to win the pageant?

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]