By 
Being in the presence of Pia Wurtzbach is akin to being in the presence of royalty, save for the fact that you need not curtsy if you don’t want to. Almost eight years ago, she made us all very proud when she became the first Filipina to win Miss Universe in 42 years. Years have passed since she last held the title, but that hasn’t stopped her from being one of the most regal and approachable women in the entertainment industry. To see Pia in her natural habitat was a treat. Killing one layout after another. She has graced countless photo shoots, something that until now she admits she still loves doing. “I get excited especially when it’s a look that I’ve never done before. I love doing shoots when I can collaborate with the creativity of those I’m working with and they get to have fun too…especially when it’s not the typical beauty queen look, and I have to find a way to still be in character and pull it off and for it to look nice,” she shares. With a camera that loves you just as much as you love it, how could you possibly resist having your photos taken? Pia took a break from shooting to change into a more comfortable outfit for this interview. The 33-year-old beauty queen, model, actress, host, and advocate has never hidden her struggles from the public eye. She is a born storyteller, and she recently talked to L’Officiel Philippines about her life, love, and promising future.
Her Past
Her difficult past did not prevent her from achieving her goals. Pia is an open book when it comes to her early-career struggles. Her parents divorced, and she became the family breadwinner. “Acting was not my dream. I became an actress accidentally. My mom wanted me to become a singer…We saw that there was a long line outside ABS-CBN because they were doing auditions. So sabi ng mom ko, ‘Baba ka! Pumila ka!’… They would screen you from the line and they would go, ‘You, you, and you, you can come in’ and then audition. I got picked, and they asked me to sing. I sang “Lucky” by Britney Spears. True enough, I got lucky, two weeks later, I was on ASAP,” Pia shares. Pia Romero (“No one remembers her anymore,” she whispers), a name that wasn’t her choice but dealt with when she started acting under ABS-CBN. “Any time that you have a foreign-sounding last name, they change it to something Filipino-sounding. Yun ang uso noon. At that time, Bea Alonzo was already ahead of me, I can’t be Pia Alonzo even though that’s really my middle name. ABS had a list of last names and they would put it beside my name and see which one sounded best,” Pia recalls. After getting some roles on TV shows, she quit acting for a while to focus on training for pageants.
Pia finally wins the title of Miss Philippines on her third try. When asked what she did differently to win the crown at that time, she said that she stopped trying to look like other people. “Wala akong peg but of course, when you’re training and you’re a newbie, you watch different pageants and you try to emulate how they are… I was very, very skinny on my first try, like dangerously skinny; it wasn’t healthy at all… On my second try, I gained a little and people were still on my case… My third try was when I was the most physically unprepared but, in my heart, I was like, ‘This is it! This is my last go. I’m just going to have fun with it. I’m going to stop trying to make myself look different. I know that this hair, this makeup, this styling, this kind of projection, this works for me and I’m just going to have fun with it, and I think, that’s what worked.”
For the complete story, go to L’Officiel PH.
PHOTOGRAPHY BJ Pascual
STYLING Loris Peña
PRODUCERS Yanna Lopez and Loris Peña
CREATIVE DIRECTION Loris Peña
MAKEUP Robbie Piñera
HAIR Raymond Santiago
PRODUCTION DESIGN Justine Arcega Bumanlag
VIDEO DIRECTOR Aijalonica Lei
Pia wears Louis Vuitton
Denise J. Mallabo 