Legends only! Catriona Gray, Pia Wurtzbach emerge as favorite winners of Miss Universe 2021 candidates
It can’t be denied that Pia Wurtzbach and Catriona Gray, past Filipina winners of the Miss Universe pageant, have made their mark not just in the local pageant scene, but also among beauty queens all over the world.
Case in point: in a YouTube video posted by Miss Universe on Tuesday, the Miss Universe 2021 delegates shared who they consider as their favorite past winners of the pageant.
And both Pia and Catriona emerge as the candidates’ top faves!
Nadia Ferreira of Paraguay said Catriona, who won the 2018 Miss Universe pageant, is her favorite because the Filipina beauty queen is “a woman with beauty and charisma that goes beyond the screens.”
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Silvia Naa Morkor Commodore said that she loves Catriona’s now-iconic Lava Walk.
Tamara Jemuvic of Canada said Catriona is a "true example of a woman who is following her dreams. Talk about an imprint in society."
Interestingly, fellow Southeast Asian beauty queen, Anchilee Scott-Kemms of Thailand, also named Catriona as her favorite. “Her performance really showed how genuine and how hard work and perseverance can really shine when you need it to shine the most,” she said. Thailand has won the beauty pageant twice, in 1965 and 1988.
Catriona won her Miss Universe crown in 2018 at the Impact Arena in Thailand.
Current Miss Universe contestants also named Pia, a 2015 Miss Universe winner, as a favorite.
“I just think it’s so amazing to see someone so proud to represent Miss Universe. Also, just not only her country but also the whole brand,” Lalela Mswane of South Africa said of Pia.
Curacao’s Shariengela Cijnte said: “Pia also made me realize that being a Miss Universe is an honor. We have the responsibility to influence the people around us, while doing it confidently, beautiful, and with heart. “
The Philippines’ Beatrice Luigi Gomez named Mexico’s Andrea Meza as a favorite.
She said Meza, who won the Miss Universe 2020 crown earlier this year in the US, is the first Miss Universe winner that she identifies with. “She has that quiet confidence and strength that I can relate to. She’s always been calm, and yet when she prepared on stage, she brought it.”
So far, 77 contestants are confirmed to join the 2021 Miss Universe pageant, which will happen in Eliat, Israel on December 12 (December 13, Philippines time). - Chuck Smith