 Hansson, competing as "Miss Uppland", was suggested as a potential candidate for the Miss Universe pageant by a celebrity panel, and the viewers selected her as the winner via a telephone poll.She served as Sweden's representative in the Miss Universe 2002 pageant but she did not place in the top 10.Hansson, while the first woman of African ancestry to win the crown, was not the first woman of African ancestry to compete for the title of Miss Sweden.