Mr Gay Europe has been crowned – Jack Johansson, a 20 year-old musical theatre student from Sweden – came out on top after what has been described by organisers as “a tough and strenuous week”.

The competition, which consists of 12 different challenges, is said to be “the hardest job interview in Europe” and blue-eyed-blond Johansson, the youngest contestant this year, was in the top 4 in all rated challenges.

This is the first time in nine years the competition has been won by a Scandinavian country. This year’s finale was the 9^th since the competition was organised in Oslo in 2005.

In another first, this years Mr Gay Europe was set-up as a tour, where the 15 finalists travelled around Austria, where challenges included swimwear and art competitions and “a very special fashion show” with the designer Markus Spatzier.

When asked on his registration form, Johannsson who lists himself as being a “freelance director, producer, choreographer, dancer and waiter”, wrote, “When I got secretly nominated for Mr. Gay Sweden, I decided to participate and make it a summer adventure as I had work the whole summer. And when I won, I realised that a lot of people, especially young boys, saw me as a role model – to be a role model for boys and girls who don’t really know who they are, and to be able to guide them through their hard times has been a true privilege.

Johansson now awaits several projects, meetings with politicians and organisations, and visits to different Prides around Europe in the year to come.

Speaking about the result, the organisation said, “We at Mr Gay Europe congratulate Jack on the title and welcome him to the MGE family”.

Top 5 Mr Gay Europe 2014

Jack Johansson (20), Sweden – Winner
Robert Prolic (23), Austria, 1st runner-up
Stuart Hatton Jr (29), United Kingdom, 2nd runner-up
Christian-Sebastian Laurtisen (22), Denmark, 4th place
Nick Flanagan, (22), Northern Ireland, 5th place