Fil-Kiwi actress Franki Russell to represent New Zealand in Miss Cosmo 2024
Filipino Kiwi model-turned-actress Franki Russell is set to sashay this year's Miss Cosmo as the representative of New Zealand.
This comes a month after it was announced that she will no longer compete in Miss Universe 2024 after the local license holder of Miss Universe New Zealand canceled its franchise for supposedly not complying with a specific order from the organization.
On its social media pages, Miss Cosmo organization shared the news, introducing the 29-year-old beauty queen as an official candidate for the pageant.
"Franki Russell is a professional film and television actress who has starred in several movies and TV series in Asia and the Philippines. She is a brand ambassador, social media influencer, model, and cyberbullying advocate," the caption read.
It added, "Last May, she walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, the most prestigious film industry event in the world."
Franki was hailed as Miss Universe New Zealand by Dubai-based magazine XPEDITION last March, saying that the achievement felt like a "ten-year journey in the making."
"A new chapter. This really feels like a ten-year journey in the making. I applied for Miss Universe New Zealand in 2014 – I was 19 at that time and really didn't know who I was as a person. A lost girl just wanting to find her purpose and her place in this world. Now that I am 29, ten years older and with far more life experience, I realized that life definitely works in mysterious ways. As the saying goes: 'Everything happens for a reason' and has [led] me to this new role," she said.
Franki competed in Miss Universe UAE in 2021, where the half-Filipino beauty landed in the pageant's Top 30. The competition, however, was canceled "due to time constraints."
Aside from pageantry, Franki also became a talent under Viva Artists Agency and starred in Ang Probinsyano (2019), Pabuya (2022), and Martyr or Murderer (2023).
Meanwhile, Ahtisa Manalo will be the country's representative in the international pageant, set to take place on October 5 at the Phu Tho Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.