Manhunt International is a prominent international male model search for the next Male Supermodel, founded in 1993. The competition's roots trace back a few years earlier, when a single national preliminary was held in Singapore. The competition was conceived by Metromedia Singapore and Procon Leisure International, which became co-partners in 1993.

The current titleholder, Manhunt International 2026 Dylan Palmerini of France, was crowned in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 9 September 2026, clinching the first back-to-back victory in the pageant’s history.

History

Manhunt International is recognized as one of the first international pageants and competitions for men. The Manhunt International Organization was established in 1993 through a partnership between Rosko Dickinson of Australia and Alex Liu of Singapore, with the aim of providing men a platform to present their talents and skills.

The inaugural Manhunt International World Final took place in Australia in 1993 with 25 contestants, and the title was won by Thomas Sasse of Germany. The event remained on Australia's Gold Coast, where Nikos Papadakis of Greece won in 1994. Rosko Dickinson and Alex Liu began their co-ownership and management of Manhunt International in 1993, a partnership that lasted until Liu's passing in January 2018.

Manhunt International is a male modeling competition aimed at showcasing talent within the fashion industry. The event includes activities such as outdoor challenges, public presentations, and talent showcases. Participants are assessed on criteria including runway performance, photogenic qualities, personality, and physical attributes. The competition also seeks to introduce new talent to the modeling and fashion industry and encourages participants to act as role models for younger generations.

Manhunt International is one of the longest-running international male model contests. It is a global competition that seeks to identify talented male models. The contest saw its highest participation in 2006 and 2012, held in China and Thailand, respectively.

Several countries have hosted the world finals, including Australia (1993, 1994, 1998, 2018), Singapore (1995, 1997, 2000), the Philippines (1999, 2020, 2022), China (2001, 2002, 2006, 2016), South Korea (2005, 2007, 2008, 2011), Taiwan (2010), Thailand (2012, 2017, 2024, 2025), and Sri Lanka (2026).

Eligibility criteria

Sex Male Age range 18 to 32 Marital status Married or Single Height At least 1.75 metres / 5'9" Skills Remarkable communication skills, modelling experience Additional attributes Photogenic, fit, pleasing character

Competition The Manhunt competition is staged in two rounds: preliminary and final. During the preliminaries, the contestants are judged in Haute Couture Fashion, Swimwear, and Formal Evening Wear. The contestants with the highest scores are named as finalists, from whom the judges determine the winner and runners-up.

During the finals, several other awards are given in addition to the ultimate title of Manhunt International: Best Runway Model, Mister Photogenic, Mister Friendship, Mister Personality, Mister Physique, and Mister Popularity (voted by the public via social media). Since the 2005 edition, Manhunt International has also awarded five continental titles to the best representatives of each continent. In the 2007 edition, it was announced that the winner of Mister Popularity would automatically advance to the final round, and in 2022, a new category was introduced called Digital Challenge (Video), with three segments: Runway Challenge, Swimwear/Physique, and Casting Challenge. Once again, the overall winner of the category advanced straight to the Top 20.

30th anniversary On this occasion, the final ten were awarded as runners-up.

Titleholders Edition Year Date Manhunt International Runners-Up Location No. Ref. First Second Third Fourth 1st 1993 November 30, 1993Thomas SasseBerke HürcanRaffaele MemoliAaron SmallMichel BoeufGold Coast, Australia242nd 1994 November, 1994Nikos PapadakisTrent GarfthonRichard PlanksBenedict Goh Wei ChehRajat BediGold Coast, Australia243rd 1995 November 24, 1995Albe GeldenhuysDino MoreaDavid ArnoldJavier RodriguezRinat KhismatouliSentosa Island, Singapore354th 1997May 24, 1997Jason ErcegSandro Finocchio SperanzaVincent PintoJonathan Rojas OrtegaZulfi Syed AhmadSingapore385th 1998May 3, 1998Peter EriksenTamme Boh TjarksRobert KorcekiPhilip LeeRets RenemarisGold Coast, Australia346th 1999May 29, 1999Juan Ernesto Calzadilla RegaladoJohn AbrahamPeter KerbyKirk HedleyLlewellyn CordierManila, Philippines437th 2000September 29, 2000Brett WilsonDavid Zepeda QuinteroBrandon ChooJosé Gabriel Madonía PanepintoGeraldino NicolinaSingapore338th 2001November 12, 2001Rajeev SinghLeo Zhang Wei BiaoLuis Antonio Nery GómezAdnan TaletovicKenneth BryanBeijing, China439th 2002November 9, 2002Fabrice Bertrand WattezBart DeschuymerMurat ErbaytanAdrian Medina ScullDaniel Leonard Navarrete MuktansShanghai, China4710th 2005September 8, 2005Tolgahan SayışmanAgris BlaubuksHenry RomeroChen ZeYuRomeo QuiñonesBusan, Korea4211th 2006April 19, 2006Jaime Augusto MayolFabien HauquierZhao ZhengGökhan KeserJose MendezJinjiang, China5312th 2007February 12, 2007Jeffrey Zheng Yu GuangJason Charles MillotIoannis AthitakisCraig BarnettAbhimanyu JainGangwon, Korea4813th 2008June 2, 2008Abdelmoumen El MaghraouyEgill ArnljotsCesar VegasLee Jae-HwanClaudio FurtadoSeoul, Korea4714th 2010November 20, 2010Peter MeňkyBogdan BrasoveanuMarlon de GregoriDaniel GuerraJerry ChangTaichung, Taiwan5015th 2011October 10, 2011John Chen Jiang FengNelson Omar SterlingGianni SinnesaelTrương Nam ThànhMartin SmahelSeoul, Korea4816th 2012November 9, 2012June MacasaetBo Peter JonssonMartin WangJimmy Perez RiveraJason CheeBangkok, Thailand5317th 2016October 29, 2016Patrik SjööBa Te ErChristopher BramellMaurício EusébioRamon PissaiaShenzhen, China4318th 2017November 27, 2017Trương Ngọc TìnhKongnat ChoeisuwanGaetan OsmanMohamed WazeemAndry PermadiBangkok, Thailand3719th 2018December 2, 2018Vicent Llorach GonzálezDale MaherLuca DerinJeffrey LanganMai Tuấn AnhGold Coast, Australia2820th 2020February 22, 2020Paul LuzineauNikos AntonopoulosMatheus Cruz GioraYeray Hidalgo HernándezMayur GangwaniManila, Philippines3621st 2022October 1, 2022Lochlan CareyJoshua Raphael De SequeraElijah Van ZantenTrần Mạnh KiênCas Hagman3322nd 2024May 26, 2024Kevin Aphisittinun Len DasomLucas SchlachterKenneth StromsnesVíctor Michele Battista InfanteVincenzo MelisiAyutthaya, Thailand3723rd 2025June 10, 2025Adonis RenaudPiyumal SithumRhyeme WrightJordan San JuanNguyễn Vũ LinhBangkok, Thailand3724th 2026September 9, 2026Dylan PalmeriniNipun SinghLucas DiazSamuel AyelojaTrần Tiến DũngColombo, Sri Lanka35

Fifth to Ninth Runners-up Since 2024, the Manhunt International pageant has awarded the Top 10 finalists with 5th to 9th runner-up titles. This table lists the names of the 5th to 9th runners-up by year. Edition Year DateRunners-Up Location No. Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth22nd2024May 26, 2024Daniel LorenteMatt DixonMarcel RieraRuan MendesLuke VanAyutthaya, Thailand3723nd2025June 10, 2025José Carlos NoveloÖzkan GörmezYu GanSomto NnorugaKamonpop KaewdiaoBangkok, Thailand3724th2026September 9, 2026Isanka PramudithaLeandro MendozaDarío MeroñoWilliam Sin KyuOsdany GarciaColombo, Sri Lanka35

Gallery of winners

Country by number of wins CountryTitlesYear 32002, 2025, 202622000, 20221998, 20162007, 20111202420202018201720122010200820062005200119991997199519941993

Continents by number of wins ContinentTitlesYearsEurope101993, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2025, 2026Asia72001, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2024Oceania31997, 2000, 2022Africa21995, 2008Americas21999, 2006

Countries/Territories ranking statistics Rank Country #Wins #1ST R.U.s #2ND R.U.s #3RD R.U.s #4TH R.U.s1310002220103220004211105130046112307111218111109111009110009110001010410111010112100221310011141000114100011510000151000016021001710101710011810001810001810001810001810001902012012121110211012210022100221002210022100221002303124112510251025102601261261261261261

See also Mister World Mister Supranational Man of the World Mister Global

References

External links