How Half-Pinay Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel Handled Rigging Accusations | Toni Talks
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Thank you! You look beautiful!
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When I won Miss Universe, it was amazing.
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But now that I'm not Miss Universe anymore, I'm like, okay, I'm nothing anymore.
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There was a lot of allegations and rumors.
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They got really out of hand.
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It wasn't just internet hate.
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We had controversy of...
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They were all saying that I rigged the pageant.
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I think this is a really great story when someone or even a woman is reaching so high for a goal.
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And society or life or something tries to bring you down, you never let that stand in the way.
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So you're thinking then, they did it.
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You know, coming out of Miss Universe, I always felt like I needed to be so perfect.
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And I want Filipinos to know there's so much more to me.
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I'm learning so much.
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to be more comfortable in my own skin,
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show a classy side and a professional
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side, but I'm really fun and
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goofy as well. And I've really
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over the last couple months
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grown comfortable with
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being a little bit
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more unpolished on camera because that's
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truly who I am and I think a lot of people
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can relate with that as well.
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What do you love most about
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the Philippines? Oh my gosh,
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so many things. I mean, for one, when
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I got here, I just felt so inspired
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and motivated. I really feel
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at home here. I feel the community.
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I feel the love and
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there's a lot of times I just don't
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feel like a foreigner. My heart is so happy
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here and I thank the Filipinos for
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always supporting me and
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letting me be here and really explore
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and connect with my Filipino roots.
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And it's been a fantasy of mine
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to come here and live in the Philippines
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thought after Miss Universe was the perfect
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time to do it. For me, I grew up
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in America, just born and raised, so
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I've always wanted to learn more about Filipino
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culture. But you've been visiting the Philippines
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when you were younger, right?
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Visiting, yes. In Manila,
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mostly in Malate, where my dad is from.
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So I would visit as a child for maybe
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one or two weeks, but
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there's so much of the Philippines to explore
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still. So how would you describe
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interracial household? Like having
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a Filipino dad and
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a mom who's American. How's like
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the discipline and the dynamics?
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Okay, so my dad is definitely,
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the strict Filipino dad.
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My mom is definitely
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a little bit softer and if
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for example, I wanted to go hang out with a friend,
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I would always go to mom first
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because she would say yes, but then she's like,
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oh, ask your dad! And he would say no,
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you were like, let's say, four or five
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years old, if you recall
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back then, what was your dream?
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I thought I wanted to be a teacher
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actually. And then when
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in my teenage years,
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age 15, that's when I really felt like
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I found my passion for sewing
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and design. And that became
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my dream, which I'm thankful
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I'm living it now, but I really
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found my calling, I feel like, when I was
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a teenager. In creating clothes,
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designing. But you never
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dreamed of becoming a beauty queen like
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Miss Universe? Honestly, no.
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I always wanted to be a model
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in that regards, a fashion
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modeling in my hometown of Houston,
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Texas. But a beauty queen,
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a beauty queen was not really on the radar
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until I was introduced
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to it by a stylist, and that
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during the pandemic, actually.
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And she introduces the idea
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to me, and she's like, you
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would do really well in pageants. And I'm like, huh?
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What? I'm not even familiar with pageants.
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I know what Miss Universe is, I've
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watched it, but I always looked
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at those girls competing, and I thought,
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wow, they're so amazing. But basically,
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this woman, she ended up tricking
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me. She said, can you come
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model for me for a photoshoot? I said, I'll be
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there. So I arrive at this photoshoot,
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and it's actually a pageant training
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school. And I walk in,
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they sit me down, I'm ready to
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do my photoshoot, and this woman,
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she says, I'm so glad you're
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interested in doing a pageant.
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And I was like, what? I'm looking around, I was like,
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am I being pranked? Like, I didn't sign
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up for this, and I had this intuition
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telling me, and I felt like God was telling me,
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you should go for it. You should really go for
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it. And it's something I couldn't ignore.
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Did you like it in the beginning?
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My first beauty pageant was Miss Kima,
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so a small local one, and I
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trained about two months for it.
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And that was my introduction into what it's all
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about. Speaking coaches, hair,
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makeup. The question and answer
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portion? Oh my gosh, I'm
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so nervous. I thought,
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what did I get myself into? This is a lot.
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This isn't just, oh, let me try it.
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You really have to train,
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and it was very intimidating.
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And I got first runner
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up. It was a small pageant, but
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I learned so many things.
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Speaking was getting much better
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because I was so shy.
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Basically, I did another local
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pageant. I did three pageants,
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and I got first runner up every single time.
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My fourth pageant,
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I finally won Miss Texas.
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Then it let me go to Miss USA
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and then Miss Universe.
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What was the most challenging part
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during the whole process? One simple thing
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is self-doubt and eliminating that.
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when I won my national title of Miss USA.
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lot of allegations and rumors.
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The controversy. They got really out of hand.
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internet hate. We had
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controversy of girls saying that I
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rigged the pageant. And it actually
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wins in the major news outlets
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in the States, picked it up.
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not known as the girl that wins Miss USA,
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but the girl that rigged Miss USA
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because people read headlines and that's it.
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They stole the thunder. They did.
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And so, I thought, oh my gosh,
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now that's my name.
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Instead of being celebrated, you're being
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accused of something.
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So, how did you handle that controversy?
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You know, I felt so depressed
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because I thought, also,
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I need to train for Miss Universe. This is
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distracting. I lost
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the director had to step down,
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the social media, the whole
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team, and the prize package you get
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as Miss USA got taken away from me.
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So, you really feel so
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unmotivated. Like, why did I do
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pageantry? Where's the beauty?
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And the empowerment of women?
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And it definitely made me feel like
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not believing in the system.
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But I had three months to train
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for Miss Universe. I had a
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lawsuit because they had to
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really go through
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all my paperwork, text messages,
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even my computer to see.
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Did she rig it? Did she have side conversations?
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So, I said, I'll do the lawsuit because
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I have nothing to hide. Yes, a blessing.
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It was a painful journey.
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But you learned so much about yourself.
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I really did. A blessing in
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disguise. I mean, life always throws
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things at us no matter what. And for
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me, I thought, this is really bad timing.
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But looking back at it now, now that
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I've gone through it, I thought it was the perfect timing
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because it really gave me motivation
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in the end. What do you want
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people to learn about your
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story? I think this is a really
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someone or even a woman is
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reaching so high for
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a goal. And society
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or life or something tries to
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bring you down, you never let that
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stand in the way. Don't let
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that adversity win
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because you'll thank yourself
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later for not letting anybody stand
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in the way of your goals or
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what you want to do in life.
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Because looking back now that you have conquered the crown,
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you've reached the ultimate dream
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of a beauty queen. You reached
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the top. You became the Miss
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Universe. What is your
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new dream now? Because we
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never stop dreaming, right? Right.
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That's a great question because
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when I won Miss Universe,
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it was amazing. But
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now that I'm not Miss Universe anymore, I'm like
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that can't be just the pinnacle
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of my career. I think a lot
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of beauty queens can say that. And as a woman.
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It's like, what's next?
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And luckily, I still have the burning
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passion to continue being a sustainable
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fashion designer. In that regards,
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I'm still promoting
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my pieces that I'm making. I'm making videos
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on recycled materials.
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But I love teaching sewing classes.
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That's something I did back in Texas
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and I recently just
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worked with Smile Train a couple days ago
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and taught a confidence boot
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camp and a sewing workshop.
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And I hope to continue to do that
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in the Philippines as well.
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I would say around the three pillars. Modeling,
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sustainable fashion design,
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and hosting public
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speaking. Now that you have experienced
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being Miss Universe, what
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is it that you want people to know
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about beauty queens?
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working. It is so hard to
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even compete and be in the
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top five of your pageant.
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And I think a lot of people see the
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final show, the runway,
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the swimsuit, the gown, but there's
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so much work and dedication
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and intelligence that a beauty queen has.
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easy. I feel like we make it look easy
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but it's a lot of work.
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Because it looks so glamorous on stage.
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It looks so glamorous, but
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all beauty queens are really great speakers.
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And for me, I think a great
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communicator is a very powerful thing.
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You have to get out of your comfort zone
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if you really want to grow. I feel like a comfort
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zone is comfortable, but it's a bad
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place to be. Because in life, we should
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always be challenging ourselves.
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What's the biggest challenge for you now?
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You know, I'm still my own worst enemy.
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I'm so hard on myself.
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And coming out of
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Miss Universe, I still feel fresh.
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I gave up my crown about five months ago.
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So, it was bittersweet.
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I absolutely loved being
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Miss Universe. I could have done it for
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two more years. I loved it.
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But, you're on such
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a high all year as Miss Universe.
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And anytime you walk
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in a room, everybody's so excited because
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you're Miss Universe. So, I was so
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spoiled in that regards. Always having
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attention, you know, flying around,
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having the best service.
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So, it's really not reality.
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So, coming out of Miss Universe,
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you're humbled and you get
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hit with reality again. Like, okay,
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no one's taking care of me anymore.
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No more management. No more team.
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that, you know, I felt really low
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those first months because you're like, okay,
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what now? And I learned, I was gaining
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all my confidence from people just loving
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me and giving me attention last year
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and being so excited. Validation.
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So, when it goes away, my confidence
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went away with it. I thought, okay, I'm nothing
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anymore. So, I've been able to do
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the self-work and realize confidence
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can't come from the external factors.
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It can't come from always getting
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attention from people. It has to come from yourself.
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Arboni, what do you want them to,
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to remember about
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you? I want people to remember me
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as the hardworking, unique
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queen. You know, I always embraced
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every side of me. I wasn't, I wasn't
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scared to show me messing
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up or being imperfect and just being
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really comfortable in my own skin
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at the end of the day. It's your super power.
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It's not trying to be like
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anybody else. I've tried that route.
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I understand the pressure from society
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to feel like you need to talk
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a certain way, look a certain
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a certain career path, but
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I think we're all born with our superpowers
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already, and young
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girls, young boys, anybody just needs
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to do the self-work to identify that.
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Whether that's like, you like
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the creative arts, you like sports,
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you're really good in your studies,
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path, but you need to understand
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what your strengths are that
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other people don't have that's unique to you
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and that will be your super power that will
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propel you through life.
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Have you learned any
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Filipino language?
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I know some phrases
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like, pagod na ako,
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gusto mo ng tinapay,
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What? Gusto mo ng tinapay?
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What? Gusto mo ng tinapay?
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Why are you like bread?
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We have gay lingos also.
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Oh, I've learned some of those too.
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What are the gay lingos?
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Nice, nice, nice.
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Kabog is like bongga.
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Yeah, bongga, charot.
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Bumunta ako sa Malate.
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Miraculous is like Wednesday?
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Nice, nice, nice.
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Thank you for watching!
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