Janitha Perera crowned as Miss Universe Australia 2022?

Beauty pageants garner a lot of attention around the world. Sri Lanka also has had few ladies who have participated and won various beauty pageant titles around the world.

Recently, we noticed a series of social media claims claiming that Ms. Janitha Perera , who has Sri Lankan origins, had won the Miss Universe Australia 2022 title. However, our investigation revealed that while she had got selected for the finals to be held in a September, she had not the won the coveted title.

Social Media Posts

Congratulations had poured in to Ms.Janitha Perera on social media circles in Sri Lanka, related to the Miss Universe Australia 2022 contest.

Facebook | Archived

This is another post.

Facebook | Archived

Because of these posts, many social media users had assumed that she had won the Miss Universe Australia 2022 contest.

However, we also noticed a number of posts in which social media users had congratulated Janitha Perera (popularly known as Sharadha) for being selected as a national finalist for Miss Universe Australia 2022.

Below is a post from popular Musician Mariazelle Goonetilleke.

Therefore, we decided to find out the facts behind these claims

Fact Check

Janitha Perera became sensation among Sri Lankan crowds after starring for a music video named as “Sharadha (ශරධා)” in early 2019. Janitha who loves acting has been living in Australia since her childhood and has featured in several short dramas as well. More on this here

First, we checked whether there were any international media reports about Janitha Perera's victory as Miss Universe Australia 2022. However, we were not able to find such media reports nor any reports about Miss Universe Australia 2022 grand finals.

Miss Universe Australia Official

We noticed a photo of Janitha Perera in the official Instagram page of Miss Universe Australia. The post had congratulated Janitha along with the other two selected candidates from South Australia state, who could now take part in the national finals.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Miss Universe Australia (@missuniverseaustralia.official)

Instagram| Archived

We contact Miss Universe Australia to get a clarification on viral posts. The event manager of Miss Universe Australia 2022 event, Amy Holland, confirmed to us that Janitha Perera had been selected to contest for national finals and it would be held in September 2022. She requested to follow the official Miss Universe Australia Instagram page to find updates about the event as well.

Janitha Perera

Janitha Perera too had revealed from her official social media accounts, that she had been selected for Miss Australia national finals.

Facebook | Archived

Janitha Perera also confirmed us that she had only been selected from state-based competitions to contest for Australian national finals and it would be held in upcoming September.

A web report about the contestants who were selected to contest for national finals of Miss Universe-Australia can be reached from here. Archived. The report reveals that Janitha was selected from South Australian state to represent the state in national finals of Miss Universe-Australia event, which would be held in future.

Like Janitha Perera from South Australia number of other contestants were selected from other states of Australia such as Victoria, Queensland ,Western Australia and New South Wales for national finals to be held in September 2022.

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Conclusion

According to our investigation, it's clear that Janitha Perera has not become Miss Universe Australia -2022 so far. She was only selected to contest for Miss Universe Australia -2022 national finals which would be held September 2022. Like Janitha many other contestants were also selected from other Australian states, all of whom will be vying for the top spot in grand finals in September 2022.