THE DAY after she won the 2015 Miss Universe title, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach posted a photo on her Instagram account showing her in a plush bathrobe, the coveted crown on her head and the controversial sash on the table in front of her. She is glowing and radiant, with no sign of the chaos that took place onstage just hours ago.
By now, the entire world—no, the universe—knows how pageant host Steve Harvey had read the wrong name, resulting in Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez wearing the Miss Universe crown for all of two minutes, until a confused but composed Wurtzbach was finally declared the rightful queen.
The show may be over but the hullabaloo isn’t—not with different personalities weighing in on the issue and fanning the flames.
Donald Trump, who lost the Miss Universe franchise over his racist remarks about Mexicans, said Wurtzbach and Gutierrez should be declared cowinners. Expectedly, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos tweeted Gutierrez: “For us, you’ll always be our Miss Universe.”
Such remarks wouldn’t faze the beauty queen, however, who won the Binibining Pilipinas competition only on her third try.
“I’ve had a taste of defeat,” she told Inquirer Lifestyle. “When you’ve had that, you come to a point where you want to try again but you’re (more) relaxed because you know you have nothing to lose, you’re prepared for anything. You’re prepared to win, obviously, that’s why you joined, but you’re also prepared to not make it.”
Competitive nature
Wurtzbach’s competitive nature first surfaced after her parents separated when she was 9 years old.
“I felt like I needed to prove myself in a way. My dad was very strict; he would always scold me for my grades. He wasn’t happy with line of eight; he wanted line of nine. When they separated, I was left with my mom. Perhaps that’s where it came from, this ‘I’ll show you line of nine’ (resolve),” she said.
Her parents’ separation had a huge impact on her life. “It was just my mom taking care of me and my sister. Tatlo kaming babae. (We were three women). I became the breadwinner. I was paying for everything through my acting and modeling (jobs) while (I was) studying.”
It was also her parents’ relationship that awakened her passion for empowering women, Wurtzbach said.
“It’s my advocacy, really. I used to see how my parents would fight in front of me and I didn’t like it, I didn’t like how he treated my mom. I had also been in a relationship where I was held back from what I really wanted to do, held back from my potential. I had also been a victim of discrimination and racism because I was a Filipino in England. I had a hard time getting a job in the kitchen because I’m a girl.
“I’ve experienced relationships where I felt belittled as a woman. I don’t like that. That kind of pushed me to try what guys do. Why do I have to listen to you, guys? I can do whatever I want. And I hope that’s the kind of message that I send to other girls, too. That you can do whatever you want. You don’t have to hold back.”
Online voting
Wurtzbach’s pageant dreams began as a child, when she would see beauty queens on TV. “I always enjoyed watching (beauty pageants) as a kid. My mom and I would watch and I’d think, ‘Wow, they’re so beautiful and they’re so smart.’
Years later, it was Miss Universe 1973 Margie Moran Floirendo who would be watching Wurtzbach on TV.
In an interview with Inquirer Lifestyle, Floirendo said: “I don’t normally watch a live coverage of the Miss Universe pageant, but this time I made that effort because (Inquirer reporter) Alex Vergara’s Facebook posts on Pia Wurtzbach’s gown made me curious. Secondly, I anticipated a call from Mario Dumaual of ABS-CBN TV Patrol after the live telecast and I didn’t want to be caught (off-guard) whatever the outcome. Furthermore, the Miss Universe pageant was just sold by Donald Trump and was presenting a new format. I took part in the online voting.”
The 1973 Miss Universe added: “After 42 years, Pia Wurtzbach finally succeeded me as our Miss Universe. Though awkward in the way (the pageant) ended, she deserves the title. I had very strong feelings she would make it because she exuded the aura of a winner. She answered well and her advocacy on HIV awareness was clear. Though Steve Harvey’s embarrassing and unfortunate mistake robbed Pia (of) the glory of basking in the moment of being awarded the title, the Filipinos will give her that moment of glory. Pia will be even more famous this coming year because the world media will be more interested to interview her because of this incident. She is in a position to present herself well as this is history in the making. Congratulations to Pia. She made all Filipinos proud.”
Perez Hilton podcast
No less effusive about Wurtzbach’s win was celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, one of the judges, who released a podcast about the pageant and said, “Here’s the difference between Miss Philippines and Miss Colombia: Miss Philippines came to win, Miss Colombia came to lose. Colombia came as if she had already won, and that’s sexy also, to have that confidence but I think she truly believed that she was going to win. Whereas Miss Philippines came with something to prove.”
He added, “I wasn’t expecting much of Philippines from her swimsuit portion, so I already thought she was not going to be that good, and then she came out, and ‘boom!’ she gave me fierceness …. Miss Philippines gave a better answer. It was the second time she gave a great answer and actually a better answer and by that point, I thought, ‘Wow, she really brought her A game.’ She deserves it. There was real beauty, grace and elegance, and she is Miss Universe. She really earned it and won fair and square …. I voted for Miss Philippines, and I found out afterwards that it was unanimous. Every single judge in that panel, all four of us, voted for Miss Philippines to be number one. So then, when Steve Harvey announced that Miss Colombia had won, I was in shock. I couldn’t even speak.”
Confusion
But Wurtzbach took it all in stride. In a video on the Miss Universe website, she made Miss USA Olivia Jordan laugh by saying, “It’s a very nontraditional crowning moment, isn’t it? It’s very … it’s very 2015.”
At the postpageant press conference, she confessed: “The emotion that I’m feeling right now is joy that I won but also concern for Ariadna (Gutierrez). That’s why there was a little bit of confusion for me, I didn’t know exactly how to express myself because those were the emotions I was feeling at that time.”
She also couldn’t believe that the moment she had been dreaming of for years finally happened. “Everything’s still sinking in. I actually asked for a mirror backstage because I wanted to see it for myself. It’s a different feeling having the crown on my head and actually seeing myself in the mirror wearing it. That’s when I knew it actually happened. It’s surreal. I can’t wait to share my victory with my family, friends and fellow countrymen.”
Wurtzbach added: “During the Miss Universe finals night, I was not there as Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, number 10, of Binibining Pilipinas. I was there as Miss Philippines.”
But now, she is Miss Universe. She has taken over the pageant’s Instagram account, her first post a selfie showing her fresh-faced and makeup-free, with a hashtag that has become her catchphrase: #ConfidentlyBeautiful.
Sacrifice
Her words about the title being “both an honor and a responsibility,” however, meant that she would have to sacrifice a lot for the crown. “I don’t have much time for family anymore. Even friends,” she told Inquirer Lifestyle. “I can’t commit myself to hanging out with anybody because there’s no time. That’s one sacrifice I had to make. Another is dieting. I love food, I’m not gonna lie. But I have to put that on hold for now.”
When boxing champ Floyd Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao in May, Wurtzbach posted a tweet that turned out to be prophetic: “Kalma lang guys. Ako bahala. Babawi tayo sa Miss Universe!! (Keep calm, guys. Leave it to me. We’ll ace Miss Universe!).”
That she did. And she hopes her victory will inspire other girls. “Even if being a beauty queen isn’t your dream, if you want something, you have to keep trying. You have to be stubborn with your goals but flexible with your methods. Take every chance you can because you never know.
“And once you’ve been given that chance—it could be a job, an opportunity to go abroad or to graduate or get accepted by the woman you’re wooing, it could be anything—when you get it, don’t forget all the sacrifices you had to make to get there. Don’t take it for granted, don’t waste it. Remember all that you had to go through to get that. Don’t rub it in, but just remember, so you’re humbled by it.”
