In November this year, the world will once again be graced by the presence of the Philippines' pride, Michelle Dee, as she competes in the highly anticipated Miss Universe 2023 pageant. While this marks her debut on the Miss Universe stage, it certainly won't be her first international pageant experience, as she also represented the Philippines at the Miss World competition in 2019.
INSTAGRAM/MICHELLEDEEMichelle's journey is nothing short of inspiring, marked not only by her dedication and hard work but also by her ability to overcome challenges. In a recent interview, the beauty queen opened up about her Miss World experience and a shocking incident that she described as being "sabotaged" during the competition.
"During my first international competition, I was so careful with everything, especially my final gowns, and especially, my national costume," Michelle candidly shared. "During our NatCos rehearsal, I was wearing a beautiful piece by Francis Libiran. I had two golden fans, so we had, I think, a group photo or something, so I had to put my fans down."
However, when Michelle returned to retrieve her golden fans, they were nowhere to be found.
"I was just like, oh my God, what am I gonna do? I was texting Francis' team. I was like, 'Somebody got my fans,' so they were ready to produce another set. But thankfully, this is why I love Pinoys all over the world. That hotel had so many Pinoys."
Michelle revealed that her fellow Filipinos stepped up to help her recover her costume.
"Hindi nila sinabi kung sino. Basta may kumatok that same night and then my fans were on the floor. Maybe kinabahan [ang kumuha] because, you know, I was like, 'I need to see the CCTVs. I need to see where my fans are,' so ibinalik niya,” she said.
"Megan Young actually advised me, if there’s something very very important, like for an outfit change, like a bun extension, bring two. Bring a back-up all the time because it’s been done before... Unfortunately, some people choose to do bad things.”
