Beauty queen struts her way to Fiercest

MANILA, Philippines – Pinay beauty queens are trained as athletes. They have to look fit in their swimsuit, exude confidence in evening gowns and show grace under pressure in the question-and-answer portion. Candice Ramos, 2015 Miss Global Philippines and Miss Global fourth runner-up, can attest to it. 

She is banking on her pageant experience as she struts her way to the “competition stage” of The Fiercest of Them All. “A friend of mine, who was part of the team, contacted me,” said Candice in an interview with print and online media, “and told me, ‘You should try. We’re looking for (individuals) who could join a reality show.”

The offer seemed irresistible for Candice, who wanted to sink her teeth into something new, away from the pageant world’s glitz and glamour. 

“After pageants, it was hard to look for your next career,” shared Candice, also the 2012 Miss (Earth) Philippines Eco Tourism, “unless you’re as persistent as Shamcey (Supsup) to make a career out of your course (in college).” 

The beauty queen added that she doesn’t have a corporate background to rely on to jumpstart a management career and is aware of the financial challenges in putting up a company. “You need money,” she said. “So I asked myself, ‘What’s next for me after joining pageants?’ Maybe (I could try my hand in) show business. It might not be it but it could be a stepping stone for something bigger. If I want to have my school (in the future), I can build my credibility (in it).”

With The Fiercest of Them All, Candice is in the right platform to start a career in TV and the movies. “I want to do fight (and confrontation) scenes and portray bida-kontrabida roles,” said the U.P. graduate, who wishes to have Derek Ramsay as leading man in her debut movie project. “I could be an action star. Not a lot of women can do action films.” Candice’s preference to the genre, which is associated with Monsour del Rosario and Robin Padilla, is a natural choice since she is into yaw-yan. 

Asked how did the martial arts-kickboxing help her in handling the varied tasks in the reality show, shot entirely in an area in Bataan, Candice replied, “I would stretch all the time. I think my being strategic didn’t help. I overanalyze things. That’s how beauty queens work — they strategize. That’s what I have noticed. In this competition and in life, you can’t really plan things ahead. You just have to go with the flow. You trust yourself that you know what you’re gonna be doing... You have to be pro-active but calm, pro-active but trustful and trustworthy. You have to be fluid because you are working with other people as well. I’m a control freak but I can’t control things apparently, especially when you are all working as a group or as a team.”

With these realizations, Candice has grown a lot as a person, both mentally and physically. “The challenges were very physical,” she recalled. “I do yaw-yan but I still had a hard time, especially the first-ever challenge which was the crossFit. It was so rigid. I couldn’t imagine doing it every day or at least four times a week. Mahirap talaga, para akong nag-kadete. Malapit na akong maging reservist. It was almost like a circuit training.” 

Given the show’s reality TV-fantasy genre, which appeals to a diverse audience, Candice said everyone can learn from it, too, like girls will appreciate the importance of speaking their mind and viewers will see beauty queens  beyond their gender stereotypes. 

“They’re not just sex objects or objects of comparison between male and female,” concluded Candice. “The bottom line is we’re just all the same.”

(The Fiercest of Them All will premiere on March 5 at 9 p.m. on GMA News TV.)