An old clip of Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Michelle Dee as a teenager juxtaposed with her as a current candidate for the prestigious beauty pageant became a hit among Filipinos.
Facebook page “Pageant Aficionado” on November 9 said that the beauty queen is an inspiration and shared a clip of her past and present looks.
In the old video, Michelle can be seen joining her mother, Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez, as a celebrity contestant in ABS-CBN’s game show, “Minute It To Win It” in 2013.
The clip featured the then-teenager sporting shoulder-length layered hair and a long-sleeved button-down.
The clip shows young Michelle being briefly interviewed by the game show’s host, Luis Manzano.
In the show, Melanie described her daughter as a “star athlete” in school.
The video posted in “Pageant Aficionado” transitioned to shots of Michelle as a contestant in Miss Universe Philippines 2023, where she represented Makati City and eventually won the crown.
The clip particularly showed the beauty queen striking different poses in swimwear.
Now, Michelle is representing the country in the world’s most prestigious beauty pageant, vying for the Philippines’ fifth Miss Universe crown.
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The grand coronation will be held in El Salvador on November 18 (November 19 Philippine time).
Meanwhile, the Facebook page that uploaded the old and recent videos of Michelle wrote the following as a caption: “The TRANSFORMATION we didn’t know we needed. Grabe ka, MMD. Sobrang nakaka-inspire.”
The page also added the following hashtags: “#DEEtransformation,” “#MichelleDee” and “#MissUniverse2023.”
The video has amassed 4.3 million views, 165,000 likes and love reactions and 1,600 comments so far.
Last May, photos of a young Michelle also went viral shortly after winning the Miss Universe Philippines 2023 title.
The posts prompted some Filipinos to speculate about her gender identity.
RELATED: Teenage photos of Michelle Dee gain traction anew after MUPH win
Michelle later confirmed that she is bisexual, saying that she used to have “a very boyish demeanor.”
A bisexual is someone who is romantically attracted to both men and women, or to more than one gender.