MANILA, Philippines — Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo was at the top of Twitter charts today for sharing about the bitter realities of being a model and a beauty queen.
In an Instagram post two days ago, Rabiya showed her no-makeup TikTok video and confessed, “I live in a cruel industry. I’m always compared to different girls. People have always something to say like, ‘You’re not beautiful enough. You’re so thin. I don’t like what you wear’.”
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She, however, highlighted the advantages of being a beauty queen: building love and connections and celebrating true beauty.
“But then life is never superficial. It’s not always what’s attractive to our eyes but it’s the love we choose to build, the connection we make to people and how we want to celebrate ourselves!” she wrote.
“This is the real me. No make up. No heavy hair extensions. Nothing fancy to wear. Just me.
Even in my simplest form, I know in my heart I am nothing less than phenomenal.”
Other beauty queens cheered her post.
“Laban Queen,” Miss Intercontinental 2019 top 20 finalist Emma Tiglao commented.
“There’s one thing I am sure of. You are our miss universe Philippines 2020 and nobody can take that away from you,” added Miss Universe 2014 top 10 finalist MJ Lastimosa.
“Our Miss Universe 2020 ?Philippines!” declared Miss Supranational 2013 Mutya Datul.
There will only be 74 remaining official candidates in the Miss Universe 2020 competition, after a delegate, Miss Universe Bangladesh 2020, through her national organization, withdrew from the pageant for health and safety reasons.
Apart from Miss Bangladesh Universe 2020 Tangia Zaman Mehita's withdrawal from this year's competition, many thought that, because of the political unrest in her country, Miss Myanmar Universe 2020 Thuzar Wint Lwin may also signify her non-participation. This may be because observers have noted that the -22-year-old Thuzar is as outspoken as Miss Grand Myanmar Han Lay in pushing for democratic reforms. Pageant fans did not also see Thuzar's profile in the roster of official candidates for the past few days.
Myanmar's recent fiasco displaced some 250,000 Burmese citizens. But if you'll check again, she's back in game. It is hoped that the same supporters who helped in sending Han Lay to Thailand will also help Thuzar to fly to the United States as soon as possible.
Prior to Miss Universe Bangladesh's withdrawal, there were several countries who have already backed out from this year's race. These are Angola, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Georgia, Germany, Guam, Kenya, Lithuania, Mongolia, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, and the US Virgin Islands.
It is interesting to point out that four of the withdrawing countries have won a crown from the competition: Namibia (Michelle McLean, 1992), Angola (Leila Lopes, 2011),New Zealand (Lorraine Downes, 1983), and Sweden (Hillvi Rombin, 1955; Margareta Arvidsson, 1966; and Yvonne Ryding, 1984).
Because of the many circulating posts about a new Miss Universe crown, Fred Mouawad, Chief Executive Officer, founder, and chairman of the entity crafting the Miss Universe crown, clarified that "the Mouawad Miss Universe power of unity crown will remain the same for 2020 and 2021," referring to the 69th and 70th editions of the pageant.
On April 22, the Miss Universe Organization, through its YouTube channel, posted a video celebrating Earth Day. The “Happy Earth Day” compilation clip featured several Miss Universe candidates showing how they have reduced their carbon footprint.
The following day, the Miss Universe YouTube channel also released another compilation video titled "Making an impact during Covid," where several candidates shared their personal experiences and how the pandemic affected the circumstances of their loved ones.
The 69th Miss Universe final show will be live on May 17, starting at 8 a.m., on the A2Z Channel 11 network.