Choreographer Michael Schwandt, who’s worked on the last four Miss Universe pageants, recently spilled a few behind-the-scenes secrets in an interview. Schwandt says that pageant owner Donald Trump - and not the panel of judges - decides which contestants will make it to the final round.

“He pops in the day before the telecast, and we line up all the girls in alphabetical order,” he explained. “He [Trump] basically walks by and has an assistant that takes notes. And it’s just kind of common knowledge that he picks six of the top fifteen single-handedly.”

Of course, the procedure described by Schwandt is not outlined in the official Miss Universe pageant rules.