Mr Gay SA, Charl van den Berg, beat contestants from 22 countries and territories to win the Worldwide Mr Gay title in Oslo, Norway over the weekend. The contest, formerly known as the Mr Gay World contest, was held in 2009 for the first time. Runners-up in the contest were the contestants from Australia, Hong Kong, China and Spain.The first duty of the newly appointed Worldwide Mr Gay will be to fly to the Canadian host city of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver. In adition to taking part in the Olympic festivities, the 28 year old winner will be an ambassador for equality and diversity at Pride House, a safe space that brings visibility to gay people in sport.
Although Charl won the first official Mr Gay SA contest in 2009, a number of unofficial Mr Gay SA contests have been held at irregular intervals since the late 80's. Well-known actor, David Vlok, is a former winner of the Mr Gay SA title. It should be remembered, however, that early Mr Gay SA contests were open to gay and straight men alike, and were nothing more than eye-candy flesh-fests to entertain patrons at gay venues around South Africa.