As part of her duties as the new Miss Universe, Filipino actress and model Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach has been doing the rounds on television, radio, newspapers and magazines in New York, where she will be based for a year.
In an interview with People magazine, the 26-year-old said she holds no grudge against host Steve Harvey, who misread the results card and initially announced Colombia's Ariadna Gutiérrez as the winner.
Wurtzbach said Harvey approached her backstage after the pageant to apologise.
“He said sorry, I accepted his apology,” Wurtzbach said. “He didn’t have to apologise, but I’m grateful that he did, and I think that speaks very highly of his character. I thought he was such a gentleman to do that.
“I think it takes a lot for you to admit you made a mistake and correct it right away, especially on live television. And I understand that it’s live television – you can make mistakes. It’s human, it’s OK.”
Asked about her friendship with Miss Colombia, Wurtzbach said: “During Christmas Day, which also was her birthday, I wished her a happy birthday and merry Christmas and said: ‘I wish you’re doing OK.’ She replied back to me, so I think everything’s OK.”
Due to Harvey’s mistake, Wurtzbach was not able to make her first parade as Miss Universe, a tradition for the pageant’s winner. But she will finally be able to do it when she returns to the Philippines for a homecoming celebration in the coming weeks.
“They’re going to invite everyone to come with their flags, and then they’ll give me my first walk,” said Wurtzbach. “We’ll get to relive that moment and I’ll be able to do my first walk in my home country.”
Wurtzbach’s victory continues to be a trending topic in the United States – where the pageant was held on December 20 – but even more so in the Philippines, where beauty pageants are national spectacles. Many fans skip work or stay awake into the early hours to watch live broadcasts. Wurtzbach is only the third Filipino to take home the crown, and the first in 42 years.
Supercouple Lustre and Reid announce world tour
Nadine Lustre and James Reid will visit the Middle East for the first time this year as part of their global tour.
The on-screen supercouple, who star in the popular Filipino television series On the Wings of Love, will visit Qatar on March 18 to meet fans and perform at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre.
They are also scheduled to visit London on March 26 and Toronto on June 4.
There are rumours that their global tour will also feature stops in Dubai and Milan, though the dates have not yet been officially announced.
Lustre and Reid have been touring the United States this week. They arrived last weekend in Sacramento, California, where the first part of their romantic-comedy series was filmed.
“It’s just fitting to kick off what will become a global tour this year in the area where the story began,” said Ricky Resurreccion of ABS-CBN North America, an affiliate of the programme’s home network.
New judging panel gears up for Got Talent
The fifth season of Pilipinas Got Talent will feature a revamped judging panel. Filmmaker and actor Robin Padilla, actress Angel Locsin and comic Vice Ganda will join television executive Freddie Garcia, who has been on the panel since the first season in 2010.
Presented by Billy Crawford and Luis Manzano, the television talent contest will return on January 23 on the local ABS-CBN network. It will also be broadcast worldwide on The Filipino Channel (TFC), which is available in the UAE.
The show is a franchise of the Britain's Got Talent format created by The X Factor and American Idol judge Simon Cowell's company Syco.
Last May, the performance collective El Gamma Penumbra – who finished fourth in the third season of Pilipinas Got Talent – won the first edition of Asia's Got Talent, a regional version of the series.
Gil leaves MYX as new VJs are unveiled
Nikki Gil, a video jockey for MYX – the Philippines’s version of MTV – has left the popular music channel after 11 years.
“Watching my 17-year-old self in a painfully awkward audition for MYX 11 years ago. My, how time flies!” Gil posted on Instagram. “Thank you for watching me grow up on MYX. I assure you the next bunch of VJs are nothing short of awesome.”
Last week, MYX unveiled four new VJs, all of whom started out as television actors: Sharlene San Pedro, Sarah Carlos, Jairus Aquino and Alexander Diaz.
artslife@thenational.ae
