As the first black Filipino-American to represent the Philippines at Miss Universe, this lass from Bulacan is shattering stereotypes and breaking the mold in a beauty pageant-crazy country. Once again, the entirenation watches with bated breath as all eyes are on her as she competes for the crown in Mexico on November 17, 9 a.m. (Philippine time).
By ALEX Y. VERGARA
Even before Chelsea Anne Manalo won Miss Universe Philippines 2024 last May, the then 24-year-old Bulacan beauty had already been referring to herself as a “woman of color,” prompting countless beauty pageant fans and even a good number of reporters to call her “the first woman of color” in the Philippines to win a national beauty title. In truth, such a sweeping description of her is a tad inaccurate.
In the eyes of white people, all Filipinos, including mixed-race beauty queens with Caucasian, Chinese, Indian and even Arab blood the country has been sending abroad to compete in various beauty pageants since the 1950s, are people of color. But if you go down to the description’s essence, they’re probably right.
In a country whose people aren’t known to tread gingerly when it comes to matters relating to race and skin color, Chelsea’s win is nothing short of historic. The “Black Barbie,” as pageant fans love to call her, is the daughter of a Filipino woman and an African-American man. As such, she has shattered stereotypes with her feat, effectively breaking the mold of how a Pinay beauty queen should look.
Road paved with tears
Barely a week after she bested the competition, Chelsea sat down with PeopleAsia to share highlights of her journey to the crown and the steps she intends to take if she is to win a much bigger crown this November in Mexico, where the 73rd edition of Miss Universe will be held. As expected, Chelsea, because of her dusky skin and naturally textured hair, has been breaking the mold and shattering stereotypes, shedding copious tears in the process, even while growing up in Bulacan.
“I had my share of being bullied in school because I look different,” she opens up. “Siyempre, masakit (of course, it was painful) because I was very young then and I didn’t know how to handle such things. Kahit sabihin pa ng mga tao, including my parents, na ‘Hindi, maganda ka,’ there came a point na hindi na ako naniniwala. (Even if people told me that no, you’re beautiful, there came a point that I no longer believed them).”
By “parents,” Chelsea is referring to her biological mother and Filipino stepfather. She was only two years old when her biological parents separated. They met and married in the Philippines, but later realized for themselves that they had different ideas on how to live the rest of their lives.
“My late dad wanted to go back to Las Vegas, while my mom wanted to stay here. It eventually led them to part ways,” she shares.
She was raised by her mom and her stepdad, who also hails from Bulacan. They have been her constant companions and advisers and, in the case of her stepdad, even her driver-slash-bodyguard while Chelsea pursued her Miss Universe Philippines dream earlier this year. Unlike most of the frontrunners in her batch, Chelsea, a dark horse to begin with, didn’t have an army of stylists, makeup artists and couturiers.
Save for a small team, including a part-time question-and-answer coach and several Bulacan-based designers who loaned her some clothes, she and her parents were practically on their own.
In one of her interviews soon after winning the crown, she shared with reporters that it was her stepdad who would sometimes even assist her in fixing her false eyelashes.
She also received financial assistance from the provincial government and a few sundry donors, but the amount wasn’t enough, as pre-pageant activities began to drag on for several months. And since there was a pageant-related event almost every day, Chelsea, a graduate of Tourism from the De La Salle University(Malabon), soon had to quit her job at a hotel as well.
“Financially, it was hard,” she relates. “Imagine, I had to travel all the way from Bulacan to Metro Manila and back almost every day to be able to join all those pre-pageant activities. There was a time when I had to resort to buying cheap clothes online, mainly on Facebook, dahil wala na akong maisuot (because I had run out of clothes to wear).”
The girl who looked different
Growing up, it didn’t take long for her to start wondering why she looked different from everyone else, including her own parents. Little by little, her mother and stepdad started telling Chelsea her backstory.
“I had no recollection of my biological father,” she continues. “It was only much later, when I traveled to the US and lived with my maternal grandmother for two years in Las Vegas, that I met and got to know him. It felt weird at first, but he made me feel like he was my friend. He would often come and visit me, and we would eat out. He would even pick me up at school.”
Apart from her skin tone, Chelsea saw in her real father an uncanny resemblance to herself. “Well, our noses, with that trademark cleft, looked similar,” she recalls with a smile.
That all had to end when Chelsea’s mother decided that it would be best for her only daughter, then still in middle school, to return home and continue her education here in the Philippines. Soon after, as the tween blossomed into an attractive teenager, she became a serial contesera (gayspeak for someone who loves joining beauty pageants), even becoming the muse of a basketball team in far-off Mabini, Batangas, her grandfather’s hometown.
“It started in high school when I became more confident about myself, thanks to my parents and close friends, who would all encourage me to pursue my heart’s desires,” she says.
Chelsea did relatively well in the beauty pageant circuit, winning a handful of so-so titles and special prizes over the years. By 2017, she was ready for prime time, or so she thought, by joining Miss World Philippines. Barely 18 years old then, she had her first taste of the televised limelight and the attendant social media glare that came with it. And it was brutal!
“I don’t really read stuff on social media these days,” she says. “Before, when I joined Miss World Philippines, I did. “at time, I got so much hate and nasty comments from people who probably weren’t ready yet to see a woman of color be part of the local pageant scene. My parents know this. Iyak ako nang iyak (I was crying incessantly). After that, nadala na ako (I learned my lesson).”
Instead of crying her eyes out, this time, she joined Miss Universe Philippines armed with a different strategy, shutting herself of from unnecessary chatter and focusing instead on the prize. It also helped, she says, “that there were other women of color” participating. “is time, she was no longer an oddity.
Chelsea continued posting on her social media accounts without bothering to read through both positive and negative comments about her. But after seeing how tough the competition was, Chelsea had to manage her expectations, content instead to simply win one of the minor crowns that were also up for grabs that night.
Answered prayers
“But you know what? That all changed when I made it as one of the finalists. Suddenly, I kept on praying, hoping I would win the top prize,” she says with a laugh. And she did!
“What’s beautiful about Miss Universe Philippines is its efforts to promote inclusivity and individuality,” she adds. “The organization has also taken a strong stand against bullying. And if they’re going to focus on me for being a woman of color, this time, I told myself, I’m not going to be bogged down by that and instead focus on people who would uplift me.”
Standing at 1.7 meters tall (or less than 5’6”), Chelsea, for sure, won’t be one of the tallest in Mexico. But what she lacks in height, she makes up for in terms of regal bearing, managing to look long and lean on stage while blessed with curves that are in the right places.
As a part-time model, she also knows how to walk, strike poses and glide with ease even while wearing the most humongous costumes and gowns. But one of her plus points during coronation night that didn’t escape the judges’ notice was her calm, almost chill demeanor during the make-or-break question-and-answer round. Her ability to come up with substantive answers on the spot without appearing too rehearsed or too enthusiastic eventually allowed her to outshine the competition, including a few pageant veterans.
“I had a Q and A coach during my journey, but ’di niya ako matutukan (he couldn’t focus on me) full-time because of his day job,” Chelsea shares. “But one of the things I learned all these years when it comes to Q and A is to always keep close to your base. You always have to remind yourself who you really are without forgetting to be relatable. Only then can you come up with an answer from the heart.”
Before flying to Mexico in early November, Chelsea also hopes to talk to the country’s former Miss Universe winners, especially Pia Wurtzbach, and get their insights and invaluable advice on how to shine in the pageant of all pageants.
Armed with love and best wishes from family, friends and her countrymen, and a rich back story on how to overcome the odds, especially when they were all stacked against her, Chelsea Anne Manalo hopes to continue to prevail over her rivals and break stereotypes abroad in her quest for the country’s fifth Miss Universe crown.
Photography by DOOKIE DUCAY
Creative direction by DEXTER FRANCIS DE VERA
Styling by PERRY TABORA assisted by KRIS DELEON
Hair by JERRY JAVIER • Makeup by MICKEY SEE
