MANILA, Philippines – Looking back, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach said it was not an easy journey to win the crown for the Philippines after 42 years. She is thankful that aside from the training provided by Binibining Pilipinas Charities, she got a lot of support from her predecessors. (READ: Emotional Pia Wurtzbach recalls challenging road to Miss Universe)

During the media interview Sunday, January 24 at Novotel, Pia said that one of the best pieces of advice she got was from 2011 Miss Universe 3rd runner-up Shamcey Supsup.

“The best advice I got this year for Miss Universe was from Shamcey Supsup. She said that you should know when to peak. That means you just have to save your energy for the moments that really matter,” Pia said, adding that the competition can be very exhausting. 

She also said that through her 3 attempts, one of the things she learned was to relax enough to finallly earn the crown to represent the country in the Miss Universe.

“Hindi ka pwede gigil na gigil. (You can’t be too tense.) I was like that on my first try and worse on my second try because I wanted to redeem myself. On the third try, I’m just going to go for it and like, if it’s meant for me, it will really happen then if not, at least I tried again,” she said.

At the grand press conference, Pia shared that one of the reasons she believed that the Filipino beauty queens excelled in 2015 was because of their natural confidence. 

“The reason why we’ve been doing so well is because we have that confidence that’s not forced. Because we have been doing so well, you know when you’re a Filipina, and you’re wearing that sash as Miss Philippines, you know you have that edge already because it’s in your blood. And it’s something you need to realize for yourself,” she said.

“The confidence came out. The confidence was there along anyway. It just needed to come out,” she added. 

Pia is scheduled to have her grand parade on Monday, January 25, with courtesy calls at Manila City hall, and Senate. – Rappler.com

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