Pasay City’s Cortesi crowned Miss Universe PHL
CELESTE Cortesi, representing Pasay City, was crowned Miss Universe Philippines for 2022, and will go on to represent the country at the 71st Miss Universe pageant.
Ms. Cortesi is joined in the winners’ circle by Michelle Dee (representing Makati; and daughter of actress and Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez) as Miss Universe Philippines Tourism, and Pauline Amelinckx (representing Bohol) as Miss Universe Philippines Charity. Annabelle McDonnell (representing Misamis Oriental) and Katrina Llegado (representing Taguig) were awarded First Runner-up and Second Runner-up, respectively. They were chosen from a total number of 32 finalists.
The pageant was held at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday night, and was streamed on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel. Former Miss Universe winners Pia Wurtzbach, Iris Mittenaere, and Demi-Leigh Tebow hosted the beauty pageant.
Ms. Cortesi had previously won the Miss Earth Philippines crown, and represented the country at the 2018 edition of Miss Earth. This year, she was crowned with the new Miss Universe Philippines crown, called the La Mer en Majesté, made in a collaboration by Jewelmer. Ms. Cortesi wore a silver-white beaded evening dress streaked with blue, designed by Val Taguba.
For her answer for the final Question and Answer portion, Ms. Cortesi was asked by Ms. Wurtzbach, “If you could stop time for a day, how would you spend it?”
Ms. Cortesi answered, “If I could stop time, I would spend it with my family, especially my mother. It’s been two years [since I have seen] my family because they live in Italy and I came to the Philippines just by myself, so if I had a chance to spend one day, I would definitely be with my mom and I would just tell her how much I love her and I miss her.” — JLG
