Matthew Saliba has become the first Maltese to place among the top 10 in the Mr World contest, held in London recently at the Brewery International Centre.

The 22-year-old hulk from Sliema beat off stiff competition from 50 other contestants to place seventh, after winning the title of Mr Maltese Islands, organised by Modelle International, earlier in the year.

The Mr World contest, which is organised by Miss World Jersey Limited and has an estimated 80 million viewers, was clinched by Mr Brazil, Gustava Cabral Narciso.

All contestants attended video filming and photo shoots and Matthew Saliba was leading with very high points during the online televoting.

Mr World is not a body building show, but a contest about style, charm and good looks. It also tries the contestants' spirit with a series of physical and mental tests.

Mr Saliba has been working at the Malta-EU Information Centre for the past one-and-a-half years and this October he will be furthering his studies and taking law at the university.

He was accompanied in London by the directors of Modelle International Sue Rossi and Claudia Calleja, as well as his friends who flew over to support him.