Pia Alonzo-Wurtzbach greeted the New Year with a message of gratitude for her family who egged her on going after her dream to become the reigning 2015 Miss Universe.

In a post on the official Miss Universe Facebook page, Wurtzbach posted a photo of her in London during the start of the year 2015.

She said she went to London then because her family lived in there while she lived alone in Manila. Wurtzbach said she contemplated joining the “Binibining Pilipinas” (Miss Philippines) pageant again, after losing it out in the 2014 pageant when she was made to answer the beauty pageant question by Senator Sonny Angara in Filipino although the panel members were English-speaking.

“Here’s a photo I took earlier this year. I started my year in London (where my family resides) since I live alone in Manila and at that time I was contemplating [joining] Miss Philippines again. Weighing my odds and thinking, ‘Am I ready to put myself at risk again?'” Wurtzbach said.

For the 2015 Binibining Pilipinas pageant, Wurtzbach said she spent another year away from her family to prepare herself for the opportunity to get the crown after losing in the previous pageant.

Wurtzbach first joined the 2013 pageant. However, she only placed first runner-up.

“There’s a lot of sacrifices to be made. I had to dedicate yet another year of being away from my family, limiting my work and spending my time on training and preparations instead. I was sure that I was ready to win but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to lose,” Wurtzbach said.

Wurtzbach said she got cold feet before joining the 2015 pageant. She said she was just sitting down on the couch in her pajamas moping when her sister and brother-in-law slapped her back to reality.

“And there I was, sitting in the living room couch in my pajamas when my sister and brother-in-law finally got up and said, ‘Okay, we’ve had enough. You’ve been talking about this pageant non stop and it’s all we’ve been hearing this whole time. You obviously want it bad. Do it. Stop thinking about what other people think. Do it for yourself,'” Wurtzbach said.

“And so I did. Also because the way my sister said it, standing over me with her hands on her hips and eyes looking straight at me, I was scared to say no,” she added.

And the reigning queen did it. She won the Binibining Pilipinas pageant in 2015, and only a few months after, she would win the most coveted crown in the world. She won the most controversial Miss Universe pageant after host Steve Harvey made the mistake of crowning the wrong queen Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez, who had to be decrowned on live television to give way to the rightful queen.

READ: Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach is Miss Universe 2015

“So I did it all again, and the rest is history. Thank you, family,” Wurtzbach said. RAM

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