LIST: Beauty pageant veterans who never backed down from winning the crown
No journey to the top is free of flaws, flubs, or flops.
Take it from these winning pageant titleholders who, rather than targeting perfection, found beauty in their path to queendom.
They may have stumbled once or twice on their road to eventually claiming crowns, but they were able to reign with grace all the same.
Here are beauty queens who embraced progress, poise, and the privilege of representing the Philippines on the global stage after multiple attempts in the local pageant scene.
Michelle Dee
Michelle won her first national pageant in 2019, clinching the title of Miss World Philippines. The same year, she represented the country at the Miss World stage and placed in the top 12. She was Celeste Cortesi's first runner-up or Miss Universe Philippines Tourism last year and won the MUPH title this year. She is the second Filipina after Catriona Gray to win the top two most prestigious crowns in the local pageant editions.
Pauline Amelinckx
Pauline joined Miss Universe Philippines three times. She competed in 2020 (3rd runner-up), 2022 (Miss Charity), and 2023 (Miss Supranational), always placing in the Top 5.
Hannah Arnold
Hannah joined Binibining Pilipinas twice. She eventually won in 2021 and represented the Philippines at Miss International 2022, placing in the top 15 finalists. She was also the only Asian to be named a finalist that year.
Jehza Huelar
After two previous attempts at competing in Binibining Pilipinas, Jehza was ultimately named Binibining Pilipinas Supranational 2018 on her third try. She competed in the Miss Supranational 2018 pageant, placing in the Top 10.
Pia Wurtzbach
Pia joined Binibining Pilipinas in 2013 and placed first runner-up, the only winner that year with no crown. The following year, she joined again but ended up only as a finalist. It was in 2015 that she was finally named Binibining Pilipinas Universe, going on to win the Miss Universe crown for the Philippines for the first time in over four decades.
