The new Miss Universe Philippines has alumna Rabiya Mateo to thank for her success at the recently held pageant.
Celeste Cortesi, who will be representing the country in the upcoming 71st Miss Universe 2022 pageant in San Jose, Costa Rica, shared that she and the 2020 winner have always been close friends and that she spoke to Rabiya prior to making her decision.
“I remember that before submitting my application for Miss Universe Philippines, I was talking to her and I was opening up about me wanting to join next year, not this year. I was telling her that I just want to prepare and be ready 100 percent,” she said.
“And if there is something that Rabiya really told me, it’s you will never be 100 percent prepared.”
Celeste stated that Rabiya urged her to just go for it instead of deliberating too much, adding that everything will follow if she’d just submit the application.
“So, it was one of the best advices because I was really listening to her and she’s also one of the reasons why I decided to go for it,” she said.
Celeste has some pageant experience as she had competed in Miss Earth.
“In the past four years I’ve been thinking, I didn’t do a great job in my last pageant, but now that I’m Miss Universe Philippines, I know that [Miss Earth] really helped me in improving myself so much.”
(Photo Source: Celeste Cortesi Instagram, Rabiya Mateo Instagram)