bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Kylie Knott

Beauty pageants are a national obsession in the Philippines, where the glitzy spectacles provide a stage to showcase not just fancy fashions and hair flicks but regional pride.
Over the decades, the Southeast Asian nation has positioned itself as a beauty pageant superpower, accumulating an impressive collection of “Big Four” crowns: four Miss Universe titles, one Miss World, six Miss International and four Miss Earth titles.
A new documentary, dropping April 10 on streaming site Netflix, explores the world of beauty pageantry in the Philippines.
Titled A Queen’s Runway, the film takes a peek behind Miss Universe Philippines, one of the country’s most prestigious and celebrated events, which reaches millions of viewers each year.


Spanning three-and-a-half months of rigorous preparation and rivalries, the film explores the lives of the women vying for the crown, a stepping stone to the Miss Universe contest – the crème de la crème of the four big international events.
The first Miss Universe was held in 1952, and the Philippines has since claimed four crowns. The US holds the record with nine, followed by Venezuela with seven.
We recall the four Filipino winners of the title.


Gloria Diaz, 1969
Gloria Diaz was the first Filipino to be crowned Miss Universe, beating 60 contestants from around the world at the pageant held on July 19, 1969, in Miami Beach in the US state of Florida.
After her win, Diaz turned to acting and quickly became a prominent figure in Philippine cinema. Her breakthrough performance came in 1975 with the film Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa (The Most Animal on Earth).
She was also highly acclaimed for her role in the 2009 film Sagrada Familia and, a year later, starred in Beauty Queen and Diva.
One of 12 children, her sister Rio Díaz was also an actress and beauty queen.


Margie Moran, 1973
Margie Moran claimed her Miss Universe title in 1973 at the event held in the Greek capital, Athens. She is one of only four Miss Universe winners to have also won Miss Photogenic.
The daughter of Francis Moran, son of the Philippines’ former chief justice Manuel Moran, and Rosario “Charo” Roxas, daughter of former Philippine president Manuel Roxas, Moran did not parlay her victory into an acting career, unlike many other winners.
Instead, she set up her own events company, ran a travel agency and managed a resort. She also had a television show called Margie on Mindanao that for seven years produced documentaries on the conflict in Mindanao, an island in the country’s south.
She was also president of dance company Ballet Philippines and served as chairman of the Cultural Centre of the Philippines. In 2023, she released My Universe, a book that chronicled her extensive travels.


Pia Wurtzbach, 2015
Born in Germany, Pia Wurtzbach won the Miss Universe contest in 2015, becoming the first biracial Filipino to win the title.
The event, held in Los Angeles, was overshadowed by controversy when host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutiérrez, as the winner.
Wurtzbach is a professional model, actress, host and television personality, and a cook: she studied culinary arts at the Centre for Asian Culinary Studies in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Fashion is another feather in her cap – in 2024, Wurtzbach was named as the first Filipino brand ambassador for Italian luxury fashion house Bulgari.


Catriona Gray, 2018
Catriona Gray is a Filipino-Australian beauty queen – she was born in Queensland, Australia – who was crowned the 67th Miss Universe during a ceremony on December 17, 2018, in Thailand. She also reached the top five at Miss World in 2016.
Gray has a graduate certificate in music theory from Berklee College of Music in Boston, in the US state of Massachusetts and a black belt in the Choi Kwang Do martial art.


Interview with Susan Fang: on the fashion designer’s flowy and colourful looks that evoke a pastoral innocence, and her Dolce & Gabbana collaboration at Milan Fashion Week

Owala or Hydro Flask? Choosing the right water bottle has become intensely personal

Meet ultra talented drag artist Alexis Stone: the Brit uses clever make-up to transform into everyone from Madonna and Meryl Streep to Lana Del Rey – but did a botched surgery prank go too far?

Tassels’ timelessness and their 21st century comeback: from Hailey Bieber and New York Fashion Week, to the Jazz Age and even ancient Egypt, this accessory always adds a touch of nostalgia

Fashion

With A Queen’s Runway debuting on Netflix, who won the Philippines’ Miss Universe titles?

Catriona Gray of the Philippines is congratulated by contestants after winning Miss Universe 2018. We look back at her victory and those of three other Filipino winners of the title, as Netflix premieres A Queen’s Runway about the country’s beauty pageant obsession. Photo: AFP

Gender-fluid Miss Universe contestant on having a ‘gay aura’ and why Bhutan should be seen as an LGBTQ-friendly country

Tashi Choden is gender-fluid and Bhutan’s Miss Universe 2022 contestant. Photo: Instagram/@tashi_chombal_dorji

Choden was crowned Miss Bhutan 2022 in June. Photo: Shangreela

Choden has been modelling since the age of 15. Photo: Instagram/@tashi_Choden_dorji

Choden is set to represent her country at Miss Universe 2022. Photo: Shangreela

Choden identifies as gender-fluid. Photo: Shangreela

First Indian-born Miss Universe Australia on diversity, breaking the mould and cracking the Aussie accent

Priya Serrao, the first Indian-born Miss Universe Australia, says she still pinches herself after her surprise win this year.

TOPSHOT - South Sudanese Australian model Adut Akech presents a creation by Givenchy during the Women's Spring-Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear collection fashion show at the Garde Republicaine in Paris, on September 29, 2019. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

Priya Serrao, Miss Universe Australia 2019

The Thai former Miss Universe on a philanthropic mission, from her native land to the US west coast

Bui Simon visiting a school in Thailand.

Bui Simon with the recipients of her scholarship fund at an event in Los Angeles in July 2019

Bui Simon with one of the recipients of her scholarship for Thai-American students

But Simon charity work in ThailandPhoto: HANDOUT[FEATURES 2019]

Bui Simon with her parents in 1988

Bui Simon became Miss Universe in 1988

Thai-American philanthropist Bui Simon

Bui Simon (left) with one of the recipients of her scholarship fund at an endowment event in Beverly Hills, California, in July.

How Gillian Chung of Cantopop duo Twins survived the Edison Chen photo scandal to keep thriving as a singer and actress

Gillian Chung at an interview with the Post in 2009. Photo: SCMP

Gillian Chung at an interview with the Post in 2010. Chung, one half of Hong Kong’s Cantopop duo Twins, is now thriving as a singer and actress but the road to success – marred by a scandal involving intimate photos – has not been an easy one. Photo: SCMP

Charlene Choi (left), then 18, and Chung, 20, at an interview with the Post in 2001. Photo: SCMP

Choi and Chung perform on stage at HarbourFest in October, 2003. Photo: SCMP

Chung (left) in a still from “The Twins Effect” (2003).

Chung speaks at a press conference attended by more than 300 artists, legislators and supporters in Tseung Kwan O in 2006. Photo: SCMP

Chung (left) and Choi at the Asian Film Awards presentation ceremony in Wan Chai in 2007. Photo: SCMP

Chung was interviewed in March 2009 about the photos of her and Edison Chen. Photo: TVB

Chung at an interview with the Post in 2009. Photo: SCMP

Chung (left) and Choi of Twins meet their fans in March 2010 ahead of their reunion concert, titled “Bouncing Back”, at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Photo: SCMP

Chung and Michael Lai on their wedding day, with (back row from left) bridesmaids Yumiko Cheng, Joey Yung and Choi, in 2018. Photo: Instagram/@yungchoyee

Gillian Chung in a still from the film “Prison Flowers” (2023).

Gillian Chung (left) and Charlene Choi during preparations for their 2024 concert series. Photo: Instagram/@q_gill

Lifestyle

Fashion & Beauty

Lists

Netflix documentary considers why the Philippines is so obsessed with beauty contests. We recall the four Filipino winners of Miss Universe


Netflix documentary considers why the Philippines is so obsessed with beauty contests. We recall the four Filipino winners of Miss Universe.


The Philippines

Netflix

TV shows and streaming video