On February 14, Michelle Dee revealed that she will be joining the Miss Universe Philippines competition for the second time—a year after she won the Miss Universe Philippines Tourism title back in 2022.
While the beauty queen has had her fair share of achievements on top of representing the country in the 2019 Miss World pageant, she admits that she wanted to try again because she knows she still has a lot to prove.
“Last year was a very difficult year, actually one of my most difficult years, that’s why I’m here,” she shares in an episode of Fast Talk with Boy Abunda. “I am joining the pageant again because I feel like I have so much to share and so much to prove and so much inspiration to share [with] people that look up to me.”
During the media conference of her brand new show Ang Mga Lihim ni Urduja, Michelle also revealed that this would be her last chance to vie for the crown due to the pageant’s maximum age requirement, which makes her ineligible to join when she turns 28 in April. “For me, it's all about not having regrets in life kasi last chance ko na this year.”
When asked what she plans to change this time around, however, Michelle admits that she wants to be more "open" with her struggles as she fell short with her “relatability.”
“Hindi ko na-share ang stories and struggles ko. There is a side of me that I really need people to see, that I’m not as privileged as people think that I am,” she says.
“I don’t know if alam ng mga tao na my mom and my dad had a rough marriage. Kaya kami lumipat sa States is to get away from that trauma. But, of course, since it’s marriage, laging nag-aaway yung mom ko, my stepdad. I actually grew up with parental figures or people around me that would criticize every move that I make."
She also revealed that she was bullied for being Asian when she lived in the U.S. “People don’t know that me and my sister were the only two Asians in Utah, so we were subject to a lot of racism. And to top that off, I grew up with two [siblings on the autism spectrum] […] We live in a very small paper town in Utah so they really didn’t understand Asian culture.”
If she gets the Miss Universe crown, the beauty queen aims to inspire people from all walks of life. “I deserve the crown because I’ve worked my whole life to build a platform, to really inspire people to become their best self,” she says. “I still owe it to my future self, to my future kids to really do something about it and really make my mark in history."
You go, girl!
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