Pool mishaps, meeting other contestants: Rabiya Mateo shares snaps from Miss Universe

The 69th Miss Universe pageant has officially begun.

On Thursday, May 6, Miss Philippines Rabiya Mateo arrived at the Seminole Hard Rock hotel in Miami, Florida wearing a white outfit.  

Miss Universe Philippines (MUP) also released episodes two and three of Following Rabiya on their MUP app. The two episodes documented Rabiya’s training and preparations since her arrival in the USA last April. 

On Friday, May 7, Rabiya met her fellow Miss Universe candidates. Rabiya’s training camp Aces & Queens reposted several videos of Rabiya with Miss Universe Thailand Amanda Obdam, Miss Universe Indonesia Ayu Maulida and Miss Universe Japan Aisha Tochigi (who also happens to be her roommate).

Rabiya also started sharing several videos on her Instagram. “Some BTS photos and videos for today. What do you think about my look?” she wrote in one of her captions.  

In a separate post, the 24-year-old beauty queen also showcased one of her sultry looks. “Kudos to everybody behind his team. Everyone was very kind to me, they even taught me basic latin words,” she said. 

Rabiya was also featured alongside her fellow contestants in one of Miss Universe’s posts on Instagram. 

Aces & Queens, in a post, revealed that Rabiya fell into the pool and even got her outfit wet during the shoot. “A lot of things happened. First of all, I accidentally fell in the pool so I got half of my outfit wet. And then I almost lost my diamonds,” she said.

“I just want to let you know that the diamonds are safe. You have nothing to worry about,” she’d later post.

The National Costume show is scheduled on May 14 (May 13 in the USA) and the preliminary competition on May 15 (May 14 in the USA).

The Miss Universe coronation night is scheduled on May 17, (May 16 in the USA). Filipino pageant fans can watch the competition live on A2Z channel starting at 8 am. – Rappler.com