Maureen Wroblewitz opens up about bullying on ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’

Alexa Villano

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Maureen Wroblewitz opens up about bullying on ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’
Maureen gives advice to those who are experiencing bullying, talks about her edge during AsNTM, and answers whether she'll follow in the footsteps of Katarina Rodriguez

MANILA, Philippines – Maureen Wroblewitz was the first Filipino to win Asia’s Next Top Model, but she also faced a lot of criticism on her way to the top.

In an interview with reporters at the season finale viewing party on Wednesday, June 28, Maureen said that she had to constantly prove to everyone that she was more than her looks. 

I think that they shouldn’t have underestimated me and I’m really happy that I could prove them wrong. I’m not just a pretty face. I’m more than that,” she said.

In episode 8 of the show, she was confronted by Clara Tan from Indonesia, who told her that she had a “pretty face but no skills.” Watch Clara and Maureen’s exchange at around the 6:32 mark below. (READ: 5 moments in Maureen Wroblewitz’s ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’ journey)

 

At the viewing party, Maureen also talked about being bullied and about the confessions of some of the contestants on the show.

Actually, it was more like there was the good girls and there was the bad girls. And we tried to stay away from each other because there were so many different personalities. We didn’t want to clash and all that. But for me, I got bullied also. So they would come at me and they were trying to kind of bring me down because they may be feeling threatened,” she said.

Asked how she is with the other contestants after the show, Maureen said that they are now okay with each other.

In the competition, we really felt the pressure, we felt the competitiveness. But after the competition was when like, yeah, we can forget about everything. We could just be ourselves. And so I would say we’re all cool after the competition.”

During her short message before the finale showing, Maureen described her experience with the show as a “crazy journey.” Throughout the competition, Maureen was in the bottom two twice and had 3 best photos.

Watch her short message below.

 


 

To anyone who is being bullied, whether whether face-to-face or online, Maureen gave this piece of advice: “You should really focus on yourself. You shouldn’t mind them. Just focus on the people you love. Focus on the people who love you and just focus on yourself and positive vibes all the time.”

And to those who try to bring other people down, Maureen said: “You should not bring anyone else down. Just think of how they feel, like how would you feel about other people feeling bad, you should not feel that way. You should not do bad things to other people and don’t want those things to happen to you.” 

Top model edge

Photo by Alecs Ongcal/Rappler

Later, she was asked what her edge was during Asia’s Next Top Model, Maureen said that being an inexperienced model was an advantage, contrary to what people may think.

“I feel like being inexperienced is not a bad thing. Because it just gives you more room to learn. It’s like when you are inexperienced, you’re like a sponge, you would hear everything, you would kind of learn so much and you use them, use all the things you learned,” she said.

PH’s next beauty queen?

During the interview with reporters, Maureen was also asked if she’s open to joining a beauty pageant just like season 2 runner-up Katarina Rodriguez, who was crowned Binibining Pilipinas Intercontinental 2017 in April. (LOOK: Maureen Wroblewitz’s ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’ winning photo)

For now, I want to focus on modeling. But I’m not closing any doors. Like, maybe in a few years, I might,” she said. – Rappler.com 

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Alexa Villano

Alexa is one of Rappler's Lifestyle and Entertainment reporters, covering local entertainment news to a wide range of topics from beauty pageants to reality shows.