Despite her failure to advance further in the world’s biggest and arguably most prestigious beauty pageant, Chelsea, a PeopleAsia Women of Style and Substance 2024 awardee, has already shattered stereotypes and broken the mold in her home country.
By ALEX Y. VERGARA
Chelsea Manalo’s dream of becoming the country’s fifth Miss Universe ended early in Mexico City after she failed to advance beyond the beauty pageant’s top 30 in a record field of 125 women, including 18 mothers, two 40-year-old delegates and one with vitiligo related to her auto-immune disease.
After winning Miss Universe Philippines earlier this year, Chelsea, one of PeopleAsia’s Women of Style and Substance 2024 awardees, also broke ground herself. The daughter of a Filipino woman and an African American man, the Bulacan native was the Philippines’ first black representative to the 73-year-old pageant. The country has so far produced four Miss Universe winners: Gloria Diaz, Margie Moran, Pia Wurtzbach and Catriona Gray.
Wearing the Philippine sash, Chelea was the 17th woman to be called on stage during the announcement of the top 30 delegates, who later slipped into and paraded in their swimsuits. She strutted her stuff with the best of them, including heavy favorites Peru, Thailand, Venezuela, Mexico and eventual winner Denmark, Victoria Kjaer Theilvig.
That was as far as she could go, as Chelsea failed to make the next cut consisting of the top 12 delegates. Dominated by Latinas, except for Denmark, Thailand, Russia, Canada and Nigeria, they proceeded to compete in their evening gowns.
With her exclusion in the top 12, Chelsea wasn’t able to fully showcase her dreamy white and tiffany blue Manny Halasan creation to the disappointment of Filipino pageant fans inside the Arena CDMX and countless others rooting for her in front of their television sets and digital devices the world over.
The Filipino presence in Mexico also extended to several famous personalities such Dubai-based designer Michael Cinco, who was part of this year’s selection committee, Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, one of this year’s backstage commentators, businesswoman and skincare guru Olivia Quido and Jewelmer’s Jack Branellec and sister Marion Branellec-de Guzman, whose jewelry company provided this year’s South Sea earl-studded “Light of Infinity” crown.
Victoria’s triumph marked the first time Denmark, a small Scandinavian country, won at Miss Universe. Her runners-up are Nigeria’s Chidimma Adetshina, first runner-up; Mexico’s Maria Fernanda Beltran, second runner-up; Thailand’s Suchata Chuangsri, third runner-up and Venezuela’s Ilena Marquez, fourth runner-up.
