The familiar faces of Miss Universe PH 2022, and where you’ve seen them before
Miss Universe Philippines 2022 is shaping up to be one of the beauty pageants with the tightest competitions to date, with a mix of new faces and pageant veterans among the candidates.
The Miss Universe Philippines (MUPH) Organization announced the 32 candidates who made it to the coronation night on April 30.
Beautiful faces and charming wit aside, fans noticed that many of the delegates have previously competed in pageants. So, to refresh your memory, here are the familiar faces of the MUPH finalists and where you’ve seen them before.
Michelle Dee (Makati City)
The daughter of Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez, Michelle is no stranger to the ins and outs of pageantry. She was crowned Miss World Philippines 2019 and won five special awards including Miss Myra E, Best Skin by Cathy Valencia, Miss Bench, Miss GCOX, and Best in Sports.
Michelle eventually finished as a top 12 semifinalist in the Miss World 2019 pageant. Perhaps, being a beauty queen runs in the family.
Celeste Cortesi (Pasay City)
Another veteran, Celeste was crowned Miss Earth Philippines 2018 and represented the country in Miss Earth 2018. She was one of the candidates to beat, landing in the top 10 of the pageant’s Beauty of Figure and Form, Beauty of Face and Poise, and Intelligence preliminary rounds.
Celeste ended her Miss Earth journey as one of the top eight finalists.
Pauline Amelinckx (Bohol)
Pauline is a familiar face to pageant fans after being named as third runner-up in Miss Universe Philippines 2020. She was also awarded Miss Cream Silk, Miss Downy Sweetheart, Miss Cetaphil Sun, and Face of the Universe.
The beauty queen opened up about rejoining the MUPH pageant in a Facebook post, saying “my heart is full of hope and my spirit is strong. Ready to take the leap. Let's behold Bohol, again.”
Katrina Llegado (Taguig City)
Pageant fans know that Katrina and Michelle’s pageant sisterhood go way back since the Taguig-born queen was crowned Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas 2019. She also won the Miss Photogenic, Best in Evening Gown, and Top Model special awards.
Katrina eventually finished as fifth runner-up, while Mexico’s Regina Gutierrez was named Reina Hispanoamericana 2019.
Lou Piczon (Cebu Province)
Another familiar face to MUPH fans, Lou represented Mandaue in the 2020 edition of the pageant alongside Pauline. She made it to the top 16 and took home the Best in National Costume and Best in Runway awards.
Annabelle McDonnell (Misamis Oriental)
Annabelle is no stranger to pageantry as she was named second runner-up in Eat Bulaga's Miss Millennial Philippines 2019.
Isabel Luche (Mandaue City)
Isabel may be a newbie in the pageant scene, but she knows how to work the camera like no other. She’s a content creator with over 1.8 million followers on Tiktok and 17,000 subscribers on YouTube.
The Cebuana is also a celebrity in the making, as part of Star Magic’s roster of artists.
Sashi Chiesa (Lapu-Lapu City)
It looks like Cebu is sharpening its knives for the MUPH pageant. Sashi is another experienced queen after she was named as first runner-up in the Miss Mandaue 2017 pageant.