Newly minted Miss Universe Philippines Michelle Dee appeared on “Unang Hirit” Monday and shared just how intense her preparation was for the beauty pageant. “Approaching the competition, I was running on 1-2 hours of sleep every day,” Michelle said. “Miss Universe is the most bardagulan pageant, in my opinion,” she added smiling.
Comparing it to sports — to the Olympics even — the Kapuso beauty queen said dedicating time to training was of utmost importance. “You have to dedicate time, not just for the pasarela, which was the walk, but your styling, your Q&A — the Q&A is what I worked on the most,” she shared.
On coronation day in fact, Michelle was up at 4am, asking her team to continue training her for the Q&A. “I was so restless, I wanted more training. I told them, ‘keep throwing questions at me’.” She kept answering questions the whole day until her makeup was finished. “I really wanted my mind in the right place,” she continued.
It’s been a real challenge for Michelle, who said “in the past months, I was fighting for my life, shooting a teleserye, taking care of my two autistic siblings. I was like, ‘if I pull this off, I should be in the next Wonder Woman film,” she joked.
Michelle revealed she wasn’t sure if she was going to join Miss Universe, what with both her parents meeting an accident last year, becoming the primary caregiver to her siblings, and the responsibility of taking care of both households.
“Hindi ako sure kung kakayanin ko. I needed to outdo my last performance. I was 1st runner up last year so winner na dapat,” she shared.
But then she realized this year would be her last chance at the crown. “Nasa age limit na kasi ako. I’m going to regret it [if I don’t join]. So I said, I’ll just give it my all, and if destiny permits, sa ‘kin mapupunta ang korona.”
On coronation day, she said things felt different. “Iba talaga yung energy. May calmness that night. I wasn’t intimidated, I wasn’t pressured. I was in the moment talaga.”