Suzan Dowdie crowned Miss Bikini Jamaica International at Mandeville staging

MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Suzan Dowdie has walked away with the Miss Bikini Jamaica International crown at the contest's 11th staging, held at Neil's Auditorium in Mandeville after a four-month delay caused by Hurricane Melissa.

Alongside the headline title, Dowdie picked up the Best Figure award. Gabrielle Whyte finished as first runner-up, Moya-Maye Nanan landed in third, and Olivia Harley rounded out the top four.

Dowdie, who works as a construction forewoman and serves as executive director of the Lil Suz Foundation, told the audience she had pushed through after the hurricane tore through her home in Giddy Hall, St Elizabeth.

"Melissa knocked me down, and I am currently helping a lot of people in Giddy Hall… that is where Lil Suz Foundation came in. Currently we are building houses in Giddy Hall for persons whose homes were damaged and destroyed during the hurricane. I sheltered a lot of people in my home during and after the storm," she shared.

Event organiser Dwight Dunn said the production had survived a difficult lead-up and confirmed that he is eyeing Florida as the host venue for the 2027 edition.

"The show was originally planned for December 2025. I moved the show from the hurricane season to April, because of what happened with Melissa," he said.

Dunn told the Jamaica Observer that the field had started at 12 contestants but shrank in the months leading up to showtime. "We had a few of them who got marooned in Melissa. They were seriously affected. Several of them pulled out because of financial strain, so we had about 10 remaining. As the show went on [some contestants] their finances couldn't keep up with the training…" he explained.

The pageant was first staged 12 years ago at James Bond Beach in Oracabessa, St Mary, before relocating to Kingston for an eight-year run. It shifted to Mandeville in 2020 as a virtual production during the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to its in-person format in 2022.