How many times have certain people told you or made you feel “no, you can’t” or “no, you can’t do it” because you’re not good enough? Too many to mention? Well, cheer up! Celeste knows where you’re coming from because she’s been there before. That’s why her authenticity and “transformational” journey are the main advocacies she’s bringing with her in her bid to score the country’s fifth Miss Universe crown.
By Alex Y. Vergara
More than the killer body and that knockout dress in today’s Miss Universe preliminary competition, which almost everybody has worked on and perfected for months, if not years, the country’s bet to the pageant of pageants is banking on her sincerity and authenticity to help her pull away from the competition.
But current Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortesi didn’t fly to New Orleans, Louisiana just to harp on her advocacies to support disadvantaged communities, help guide teenagers, especially girls during their menstrual periods, and prevent young people from committing suicides.
Although the 25-year-old Filipino-Italian stunner is training the light on these pressing issues as she competes with more than 80 other delegates for the coveted Miss Universe crown, Celeste also tries to draw from her own experience and transformation, as she delves deeper into the root causes bedeviling many young people nowadays: the inability to know and understand one’s self.
This, together with her efforts to allow her “authenticity” to shine through, has been her main advocacy in between photo shoots, rehearsals and interviews, as she tries to clinch for the country its fifth Miss Universe crown.
In an interview with American blogger Brian Javier, wherein pageant fans got a glimpse of how Celeste thinks and where she stands on a number of personal issues, she revealed the sources of her strength while being mindful of her limitations.
“When I was crowned Miss Universe Philippines, I became the subject of a lot of comments and opinions,” she began. “[That’s why] It’s important to train your mind to be confident, to reassure yourself that you are in the right time and in the right space. Beauty queens are still human, we are human beings. We are not superheroes. We have feelings and emotions, too, and it’s very difficult to be judged by people.”
For Celeste, the most difficult thing for her to embrace and perfect was to believe and be sure of herself. Once you’ve settled this, the rest, like in her case, would follow—from being independent to knowing her purpose.
The object of bullying when she was a child growing up half-Italian and half-Filipino in Parma, Italy, Celeste also appealed to people, especially staunch beauty contest fans, to be kind to them and to each other, especially on social media. As for her, she has long gave up reading “the chaos,” whether good or bad about her, on these public platforms.
“When I wake up, I make sure that I’m grateful that I’m here right now and I need to be present. Everything else around me is really just chaos. And I just have to focus on the things that I want. At the end of the day, I hope I make my country proud. I hope they can see that,” an articulate Celeste, in her Italian-accented English, said.
Although criticisms that she’s not “Filipino enough” to represent the country in the most prestigious global beauty pageant still crops up once in a while, Celeste, a PeopleAsia Woman of Style and Substance 2022 awardee, has been there before while being the odd-girl out growing up in Italy.
“I was very young then and it affected my mental health to the point that I didn’t want to go to school anymore,” Celeste, referring to the constant bullying she received in school, shared with PeopleAsia sometime last year. “I learned much later that [what I went through] was a form of violence and bullying.”
Devastated by her Italian dad’s passing, it took this daddy’s girl quite some time to process her loss. “I was always home and didn’t have any friends,” she added. “I was isolated for a very long time until I myself finally decided to move forward. But I think you never fully get over something like that.”
Well, guess what. After deciding to know more about her Filipino roots by flying to the Philippines seven years ago, Celeste, after joining her first beauty contest and learning how to speak English fluently, is a very different woman these days. And this gradual but amazing transformation is what she wants to share and inspire the rest of the universe with.
“What I’m bringing to this Miss Universe journey is really my transformation,” the 25-year-old beauty queen told Javier. “My transformational journey. Like I started from zero. I started not knowing how to speak English. I started not knowing anything about the Philippines. Now, I’m representing my country, and that people would look at my transformation and be inspired by it because there are no limits in this life.”
You can achieve almost anything you want as long as you’re passionate enough. As long as you’re focused on your mission and vision, you can do it all, she added.
