Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi opened up about how ending the Philippines’ 12-year semi-final streak in Miss Universe affected her in the days following the coronation.
Celeste appeared as a guest on the 19th episode of “Almost Honest,” the podcast of fellow beauty queen, Miss International 2016 Kylie Versoza, on Wednesday, April 29.
During the episode, the Filipina-Italian’s Miss Universe stint was discussed, where she described her finish as being “unplaced.”
“I wish I got something!” Celeste shared with Kylie with amusement.
“I was unplaced. Now we can laugh about it,” Celeste added.
The half-Italian beauty queen admitted she was “also shocked” that she did not make it into the Top 16 roster of the 71st edition of Miss Universe.
Celeste said she prepared “so much with obsession” for the pageant, adding that she “felt bad” people only saw what was on their screens but “not the sacrifices and the hard work behind it.”
“They’re just so easy to judge for the result,” she said.
Celeste added that she remembered “half of the stadium walked out” after other countries failed to make it into the Top 16 roster at the time.
Moments after the coronation night, the beauty queen said she had pizza with her team.
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Celeste was the first Filipina beauty queen to be unplaced in Miss Universe, ending the country’s 12-year semifinal streak since 2010, when Venus Raj represented the Philippines.
In Kylie’s podcast, the half-Italian beauty queen opened up about how the result affected her after the coronation.
“I also got a lot of opinions, like ‘you didn’t do this,’ ‘you didn’t wear that,’ ‘it’s because of this.’ People start trying to attack you whenever you can. I definitely went through another trauma,” Celeste said.
“I closed myself in my room when we traveled back to LA for, like, two to three days,” she added, referring to Los Angeles.
“Nobody can get me out of there. All of my friends were, like, ‘Come on, let’s go out, let’s get up, let’s drink’ or whatever. And I was just like, ‘No, I’m going to stay in bed for as long as I can,'” Celeste said.
“But this is how I cope with problems. I’m like a couch. I don’t move, I don’t drink, I don’t eat… I was just sleeping. I just don’t do anything, and then I go back to my senses eventually,” she shared.
Celeste was bested by American representative R’Bonney Gabriel, a half-Filipina, who also made history by bringing the Miss Universe crown back to the United States after almost a decade.
ALSO READ: More R’Bonney Gabriel stories here
