She became the clear favorite of the judges, winning the interview and swimsuit preliminaries and all three segments of the semi-finals. During the 1990 Miss Universe competition, she listed herself as "The beauty queen from Hell" as a publicity stunt[citation needed] (because she was born in the village of Hell, located in Stjørdal Municipality, Norway; however 'hell' also means 'luck' in Norwegian).[2] Her runners-up were Carole Gist and Lizeth Mahecha, representing United States and Colombia, respectively.
In 2013, Grudt was the editor of the Norwegian wedding magazine Ditt Bryllup (en. Your Wedding).[3] Also, Mona Grudt came in second place in the Norwegian version of Dancing with the Stars, in Norway called Skal vi danse (Shall we dance).[citation needed]
Grudt returned to the Miss Universe pageant in 1994 as a member of the panel of judges.[citation needed] In 2010, she became the host of the seventh Cycle of Norway's Next Top Model, which aired in 2011.[4]
