Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi found herself on the hot seat after appearing to express disbelief in the victory of Bulacan’s Chelsea Manalo as the new Miss Universe Philippines 2024 titleholder.
Right after Manalo’s crowning moment on early morning of Thursday, May 23, Cortesi posted on X (formerly Twitter) her sentiments in capital letters, “What just happened [MUPH2024 hashtag]?”
Her tweet immediately drew the attention of the netizens, with some replying that “it was also their reaction when Cortesi was crowned in 2022 and failed to win the crown for the Philippines in Miss Universe the same year.”
“Girl, that’s what people said when you won. Be kind!” lamented one X user.
“That’s our question when you stopped the 12-year winning streak of Ph,” wrote another netizen.
“Lol, coming from the worst Miss Universe Philippines candidate. Stay in your place, Celeste. Remember that you were the one who cut the streak and started the dark days of MUPH,” argued another X user.
Lol, coming from the worst Miss Universe Philippines candidate.
Stay in your place, Celeste. Remember that you were the one who cut the streak and started the dark days of MUPH. Lol
— Landel Matthew (@m78804) May 23, 2024
After various reactions on Cortesi’s post, the beauty queen posted another tweet to clarify that she was not questioning the crowning of Manalo, but of “how the other crowns were distributed.”
“Ya’ll need to chill. Haha. What I meant by what happened is how the other crowns were distributed. Where’s Cainta? Where’s Taguig? Stop trying to make an issue; I have my bets, but I fully support whoever wins,” she explained.
Prior to the coronation, The Miss Philippines organization had previously announced the awarding of four more crowns to winning candidates of the Miss Universe Philippines pageant.
However, despite making it to the Top 5, Stacey Gabriel of Cainta (1st runner-up) and Christi McGarry of Taguig (4th runner-up) had not been awarded any of the crowns, which was a surprise for the viewers.
Meanwhile, early favorite Ahtisa Manalo ended up as 2nd runner-up, and a Miss Cosmo Philippines 2024 title on the side. This dismayed pageant fans as they said this appeared to be a “downgrade” for the Miss International 2018 1st runner-up finisher.
Aside from Cortesi, Miss Universe Philippines 2014, MJ Lastimosa, also took to X to offer her thoughts about why Gabriel and McGarry didn’t receive any of the four crowns.
“Wala rin po akong answer re Stacey. Guessing because she’s 1st runner up? She has duties if the winner can’t fulfill her responsibilities. While Christi, might be because of her age. But I’m not sure din,” she said.
As for the two other queens crowned, they were Tarah Valencia of Baguio for Miss Supranational Philippines, and and Cyrille Payumo of Pampanga as Miss Charm Philippines.
