Actress Alessandra de Rossi asked her followers about the “tea” or the controversy in the recently concluded Miss Universe Philippines 2020 amid the cryptic Instagram posts of candidate Miss Taguig Sandra Lemonon.
The actress on Sunday afternoon wrote the following on Twitter with a laughing-with-tears emoji: “Somebody spill the tea please!”
“Tea” is a slang word for “gossip” or “juicy scoop,” according to Dictionary.com.
De Rossi’s tweet gained 3,100 likes, more than 200 retweets and lots of comments in the replies thread as of this writing.
She also acknowledged her need for the gossip with another tweet with the similar emoji: “The chismosa of the day goes to me! Today lang!”
De Rossi likewise shared some lyrics of Eminem’s song, “Without Me,” that referenced the need for “a little controversy.”
Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
'Cause we need a little controversy
'Cause it feels so empty without me! Sabi ni Eminem!Sabi na rin! 🙌🏻🤣
Sali kami!— alessandra de rossi (@msderossi) October 25, 2020
Her followers were all too willing to oblige on her request, sending screenshots of some social media posts of Lemonon and Miss Universe Philippines national director Shamcey Supsup-Lee, seemingly in response to each other.
Some also shared a Facebook post of a certain digital creator who noticed that Miss Quezon City Michele Gumabao was not included in the photo-op of the winners and other runner-ups.
Gumabao, who won as the 2nd runner-up of the beauty pageant, shared that she had left the venue, Baguio Country Club, while the event was ongoing since she already knew the results and couldn’t handle all the attention she was getting.
The former volleyball star landed on local Twitter’s trending list on Sunday as pageant followers wondered about the goings-on behind the scenes. She was reportedly close to Lemonon and were batchmates during the 2018 edition of pageant Binibining Pilipinas.
What’s the ‘tea?’
Lemonon on Sunday trended on local Twitter after she posted cryptic Instagram Stories where she said that she would be “announcing big news.”
“It’s time to be honest and speak facts,” she wrote before the competition was aired on television.
Lemonon also shared the following comments after the pageant: “The truth always comes out. It’s just about timing. Karma is real. (Coffee time) soon because we deserve justice.”
The beauty queen after a few hours shared another cryptic post that got the pageant followers talking: “Accepting defeat graciously is one of many mark (sic) of being a queen. But what you forgot to say is that REAL queens play FAIR don’t CHEAT.”
Lemonon also accompanied her post with a picture of a cup of tea in reference to the internet slang “tea.”
Some had speculated that it was her response to Supsup’s Instagram Story that was released on Sunday, the same day the winner of the beauty pageant was announced.
Supsup wrote: “To bear defeat with dignity, to accept criticism with poise, to receive honors with humility – these are the marks of a true QUEEN.”
Prior to this, certain Instagram Stories of a Diemmy Alexi Tatlonghari went viral where she alleged that “some of the girls” in the pageant “had their MUA (makeup artist) and whole glam team” in the competition despite some rules in place of the coronavirus pandemic.
Tatlonghari used to be a volleyball athlete and teammate of Gumabao at the De La Salle University.
Reports said that there was a restricted use of hair and makeup personnel in place as health and safety protocols in observance of the pandemic.
Tatlonghari also wrote that speaking up about the “glam team” issue was not being “bitter” but “about the truth.”
Meanwhile, in an Instagram story on Sunday, Miss Davao City Alaiza Malinao shared a video clip with pageant winner Miss Iloilo Rabiya Mateo and addressed the “cheating” allegations.
“So deserving!!! Siya lang po nagme-makeup sa sarili niya,” Malinao wrote.
“Habang naghihintay kami sa holding area, si Rabiya nasa gilid ‘yan nagpa-practice mag-Q&A! Nung prelims, rumarampa ‘yan sa hallway, sa labas ng holding area namin para mag-practice ng swimsuit walk niya. MASIPAG si dzai. She worked hard! She’s fair! She did not cheat. She is a deserving winner! Congratulations @rabiyamateo our Miss Universe Philippines 2020! She is our queen!” she added.
Speculations also surfaced that Mateo had allegedly been provided questions in the finals before the coronation but Miss Universe Philippines board director Albert Andrada laughed it off and said that other finalists were inside the bus before they went onstage.
He also expressed support to the Ilongga beauty and said that the organization stands by its decision to crown her as the winner.
“As of this time, we are standing by Rabiya Mateo as the first winner of Miss Universe Philippines. We are also grateful to our sponsors, stakeholders and supporters who sustained us throughout the holding of the first edition of Miss Universe Philippines franchise, amid the limitations of the pandemic,” Andrada said.
Mateo, in a Sunday interview with entertainment journalist MJ Marfori of TV5, turned emotional as she defended herself against the allegations and said that she chooses to be the bigger person amid the issue.
“To be honest po, maybe because I wasn’t a frontrunner, so people didn’t expect me to win,” the 23-year-old beauty queen said.
“But I know that I did everything and anything that I could during that night. And binigay ko talaga,” Mateo added.
