MANILA, Philippines — Miss Universe Philippines 2018 Catriona Gray pwowed the crowd with her LuzViMinda-inspired national costume, but revealed she actually experienced a “technical mishap” when she was just about to go on stage.

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The 24-year-old beauty queen explained in an Instagram live on Tuesday that the Christmas lantern or parol in her costume was meant to light up.

“My parol was meant to light up, but for some reason, I don’t know why, before the show I was trying to turn it on and it wouldn’t turn on,” Gray recounted.

She said she wasn’t sure if the wires got moved during the transport here Thailand, “but it just so happened that on the day itself and on the time that I walked out on stage, the lights, they weren’t working.”

Gray shared she was saddened by the fact that it did not work because she would have loved to “show the full effect” of what her team had put their time and effort to.

“We really went over mountains just to try and get the light and the synchronization of the light on the parol. Regardless, I just want you guys to know that it’s a little bit of a technical mishap,” she said.

The Bicolana beauty also admitted she struggled with the weight of her costume: “I was initially supposed to carry it but the weight was too heavy.”

That’s why they decided to put wheels on the parol. However, “the wheels we prepared were for a flat floor, or a tiled floor, or a wooden floor. Just a smooth floor.”

She said she didn’t expect the floor of the national costume competition to be carpeted, “so when I walked on the carpet, the wheels weren’t running smoothly, and it was really, really hard to pull.”

The beauty queen did not hide her disappointment and said: “I know it would have been nicer if I walked better.”

Nonetheless, Gray expressed thanks for her team that allowed her to put this concept together because she “wanted to show the Filipino artistry and all the inspiration I took from our country in the national costume.”

The national costume competition held on Monday, Dec. 10, was among the pre-pageant events before the coronation day on December 17 in Bangkok, Thailand. /cbb