Miss International 2022 Jasmin Selberg gives credit to Filipino team
MANILA, Philippines — Having been trained by a Filipino team, reigning Miss International 2022 Jasmin Selberg is already familiar with beauty pageants in the country and has even learned some Tagalog words.
She came to Manila as one of the special guests and judges at the Bb. Pilipinas 2023 coronation event, which was held on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“I’ve always wanted to see Bb. Pilipinas ever since I became a beauty pageant fan as well because, of course, my trainers (who) are Filipinos,” she said during a recent presscon at the Novotel Manila.
“They have told me a lot about Bb. Pilipinas. And that made me even more excited to come here. Because of the knowledge that I gathered here, I really want to make use of (that) to maybe have our little own pageant in Germany and that really inspires me.”
Some of the Tagalog phrases she learned were “salamat po” and “wait lang.” “As I said, my trainers in Berlin, they are Filipinos and so I have been listening to them speak Tagalog around me for like two and a half years now since November 2020. That’s how I picked (the language) up. For example, one of the most spoken sentences I heard was ‘wait lang.’ So I kind of like to use it now.
“Marites, for one. I was introducing myself to Hannah (Arnold) like, ‘Hi, I am Marites.’ And she was very confused. She said, ‘Wait, your name is not Marites.’ It took her a minute to understand what I mean. When she found out, she was also laughing, of course.”
“Marites” is a colloquial term to jokingly refer to people who like to gossip and poke their noses into other people’s affairs.
Meanwhile, Jasmin and Philippine representative to the Miss International 2022 Hannah became friends while competing in Tokyo, Japan last year. She described Hannah as “just a sweetheart” and “easy to get along with.”
She also said that she was amazed by Filipinos’ “enthusiasm and the passion they have for something that they really love and what to support. And also it’s the unconditional love and support that Filipinos show their beloved ones.”
“The people are very kind and loving and of course very, very funny. You have good humor,” the 23-year-old stunner added.
The German model also looked up to Miss Globe 2021 Maureen Montagne and Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray as her role models in pageantry.
“It makes me really excited. When I saw that she (Catriona) would be the host of Bb. Pilipinas, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m meeting my idol. On top of getting to check off that, I could finally watch Bb. Pilipinas,” she shared and furthered that Catriona inspired back then.
Jasmin described her Miss International journey as a “fountain of happiness and love.” She told The STAR in a separate one-on-one interview: “It’s been almost six months now since I’ve been crowned. And I have been traveling a lot… I’ve been less than one and a half months at home (in Germany), but I really appreciate the (travel).
“It’s because this is currently the time of my life and I really want to experience (it) as much as possible. And also influence as much as people as possible (with) the positivity that I intend to share to the world.”
“I want to be remembered as someone who has been impactful in some ways. (To be seen as an) inspiration, that would be my greatest hope. Of course, I already made some history as the first German beauty pageant queen to be crowned after 33 years and more.
“And that’s already a way that I’m being remembered. But yeah, being someone who is inspirational and also who just shines and radiates happiness, that is something that I would really wish for,” she added.
Jasmin participated at the Miss Globe International in 2021 and finished in the Top 15 and was part of the Miss Universe Germany in 2022 and placed in the Top 16.
She also confirmed during the press event that she and her Korean boyfriend are no longer together.
On her thoughts on online bashing, Jasmin opined,“I try to think of it (this) way — a person that bashes you online usually takes one to three seconds to write that comment and then they proceed with their day without thinking of what they just wrote on the internet.
“And I know that we, all beauty queens, sometimes read the comments and some are really affected by them. As I am also sometimes, too, because I’m just human. But then again, these people who make malicious comments on the internet, they don’t think about it. The person that they address it to and that reads them, sometimes it will keep them busy or they might be busy for hours or weeks or even days or their entire life.
“So words can really affect a person badly and that is why I kindly would tell the people to, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, rather don’t say anything at all. And also, if you wouldn’t say that to the person in real life, why would you even comment such thing on the internet?’”
A thankful Jasmine also left this message to her Filipino fans: “Maraming salamat po for always supporting me (and) for being so enthusiastic about beauty pageants. Because without you, we probably wouldn’t be here, all the beauty queens in general. So thank you for always being there for us (and)for always cheering on us.”
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