Queen P Reborn: Our Cover Girl’s Stories Of Life Lessons And Transformations Through The Years

It’s been more than five years since actress, beauty queen, host, and Cream Silk endorser Pia Wurtzbach was named Miss Universe 2015 in a historic coronation night that took place in Las Vegas on December 20 of that year. Yet, the memory of Pia in her royal blue gown by Albert Andrada remains fresh in people’s minds till today: that image of her hand on her mouth in utter disbelief during the controversial announcement of the winner and her right arm raised, waving to the world (the universe, rather) as the third Filipina to win the coveted title. 

“This year is my sixth year after winning Miss Universe,” Pia points out. “I was thinking about it last night. It’s been almost six years. And I’m so grateful that many are still supportive of whatever projects I come out with.”

It’s easy to support Pia really, because the projects she works on and the causes she associates herself with are always hinged on inspiring, motivating, educating, and empowering others. Somehow you just know that her intentions always come from a place of love. 

Years since she ended her pageant journey with her Miss Universe victory, the essence of being a beauty queen still flows naturally within her. 

Pia went through many transformations in her life, as she discovered more of her abilities and capabilities as a public figure through the years. But it is this Miss Universe victory that truly allowed her to be reborn into the kind of woman she never imagined she could ever be. Cliché as it is, pursuing pageantry did give her purpose and direction. She grew, transformed, and evolved, but her core has stayed the same all this time. In every ladder she climbed, she took with her all the lessons she has learned in every step of the way.   

The value of money, hard work, and discipline

Pia’s first loves are acting and singing. During her childhood years, when vlogging and selfies were unheard of, little Pia would grab a video camera (you know, those camcorders where you have to flip the screen to see yourself) and just pose, act, and sing in front of it. “Maybe ’yung confidence to do it in front of an audience took longer to progress, but the interest was always there,” she recalls.

She successfully penetrated the local showbiz scene at a young age, but she had to go through many auditions and deal with many rejections at the same time. She admits she wasn’t as talented as the kids she was competing with back then, but if anything, she was willing to work hard to improve herself. “I also did so many workshops because, of course, hindi ka naman makukuha if you don’t have the skill,” Pia says. “So, I needed to keep working on my skill… from the outside kasi, some people think that, oh, ’pag nag-aartista, lalo na ’pag bata, it’s so easy. ‘They just act on TV eh. It must be such an easy job.’ But there’s actually a lot of challenges to it. There’s so much pressure. There’s competition. When you’re young, you’re also dealing with your own insecurities.”

Now that she thinks about it, though, it wasn’t just her talent that paved the way for her to get into this business, it was also her confidence, the same thing that helped her get the crown.

Young as she was, she also took it upon herself to be her family’s breadwinner. She was enjoying the experience of being an artista, but she would always remind herself of why she was there in the first place, that it wasn’t all fun and games. Pia shares candidly, “It was hard because I entered showbiz as somebody who really needed the money. Parang may pressure sa’kin na palaging may trabaho. Consistent. Kahit small roles tinatanggap ko. I enjoyed it, but there was a lot of pressure. It was something that I enjoy, something that I love, but then it also had the added pressure na, ‘Wait a minute, ’yung family ko nakasalalay sa’kin, sa performance ko today.’”

There may have been pressure, yes, but there was also no denying that that helped shape Pia into the strong, hard working, disciplined, and responsible woman she is now. Those are winning traits that contribute to conditioning someone to be greater.

Her showbiz life was doing good overall, but she knew better than to settle. She knew she could be greater if she conditioned herself to be one. 

Anything is possible if you just believe

No matter how much she enjoyed acting, there came a time when Pia just wanted to do more. That search for purpose and meaning coincided with a breakup that left her feeling lost. “I put a lot of my time and my energy into that relationship,” Pia tells us. “Then after the relationship was finished, I felt kind of lost. I needed to pick myself up again and pageantry found me.” 

Pia met beauty camp Aces and Queens’ Jonas Gaffud, who spotted her walking in a mall and asked her the question that would change her life forever: “Gusto mo sumali sa Binibining Pilipinas?” “And when I heard that question, I said yes right away,” she shares. “Sabi ko, ‘Yes, yes, yes! May gagawin na ako sa buhay ko finally.’” 

When she came across this newfound purpose, she did all that she could to succeed in this field. Pia devoted her time, effort, energy, and even shed so many tears to make herself the best beauty queen she could be proud of. Pia reflects, “I felt like pageants came to my life at the time when I needed picking up. I needed somebody to tell me you’re more than that. That you have the potential. You can transform yourself. You can be better. You can be your greatest if you give it a try. I’m really happy that that opportunity came and I grabbed it.”

Pia instantly felt she belonged in the world of pageantry despite it being different from showbiz, the first industry she dabbled in. She pointed out that in showbiz, you’re playing a role or a character and portraying that is what you try to improve on. Pageantry, on the other hand, is all about being yourself. “When you’re a beauty queen, you improve on yourself. You don’t improve on your characters or your different roles,” Pia explains. “You have one role, and that’s being yourself. But your best self.”

The story of how she joined Binibining Pilipinas thrice and won the Miss Universe title on her third attempt is one Pia won’t ever get tired of talking about. The moment she decided to become a beauty queen, she was firm about seeing it all the way to the end no matter how painful it was to lose. “When doors close, it doesn't mean you should give up and step back,” Pia says. “It just means you have to wait, be patient, keep working hard, and wait for that door to open.”

For Pia, it wasn’t a question of why she should join the competition again. Rather, Pia shares, “I guess my default thinking is always ‘Why not?’ Not ‘Why? Why would I join again? Why would I try again? Why would I put myself at risk? Why would I make myself go through that pain again?’ It’s always ‘Why not?’ for me. ‘Why not? What if it works?’”  

Someone saw the potential in Pia, and she believed that person. Eventually, she believed in herself and in the truth that anything is possible if you believe that your dreams can happen for you. You may not get things easily, but that’s part of your journey. “A  lot of the pain and the rejection that happened before led me to where I am now,” Pia ponders. “So I think the big lesson there is that some of the things may hurt at the moment but they will pay off in the end. There will come a time where you’re going to look back and think, ‘Kaya pala!’ Some things may not make sense now, but minsan ’di mo alam that you’re just being redirected to your path.” 

Being an ever-evolving modern Filipina

When that door to the universe opened up for Pia, her horizon became broader. Behind that door wasn’t a dead-end but a long and winding road marked by different opportunities along the way. Pia the actress and the beauty queen evolved into an award-winning host of Metro Channel show Pia’s Postcards, podcast host of the new Spotify Original “Between Us Queens” (alongside her fellow beauty queens and friends Bianca Guidotti and Carla Lizardo), and a staunch advocate of HIV awareness and local environmental conservation efforts as a WWF-Philippines ambassador. 

When the pandemic happened, Pia had the time to reflect on what to do with her life next. Like many others, she learned more about herself during this time, and discovered more platforms to venture in. She’s a must-follow on Instagram, especially with her inspiring travel photos and gorgeous OOTDs and beauty looks. She has conquered Facebook, as she and her friends have built a community there where women are welcome to open up about the things they’re going through. She started her YouTube channel, too, and explored vlogging; although she stopped in 2019, she told us she has revisited her vlog and will return soon with episodes that document her travels with boyfriend Jeremy Jauncey. In case you didn’t know yet, this queen of transformation is now on TikTok as well, and will entertain her followers with many makeover types of short clips. And, of course, with acting, she keeps a “why not” approach to it and would gladly go back filming should a great role lands on her lap.

There’s always a lot on Pia’s plate but self-love and self-care never take a backseat. Even the simple joy of enjoying bath time is something she doesn’t take for granted. She likes pampering herself and her hair especially, and her ultimate must-have is the all new Cream Silk Ultimate Reborn Conditioner Tri-Oleo. With most work practically done virtually today, where the hair typically gets the most attention, Pia strongly recommends this product to not only improve one’s hair health but boost one’s confidence as well.

With all the stress and damage the hair goes through every single day, shampoo just isn’t enough to maintain it and bring it back to life. You’ll need a conditioner like the Cream Silk Ultimate Reborn that is formulated with three lightweight ultra-nourishing hair oils which deeply nourish the weakest areas of the hair fiber, making hair stronger, smoother, and beautifully reborn. Argan oil helps strengthen hair, Rosehip oil helps smoothen it, and Marula oil helps moisturize it. 

Cream Silk contains potent conditioning technology that detects even the smallest imperfections on your hair and adapts to your hair’s needs. 

In essence, that’s also what modern Filipinas like Pia are about. They find ways to work around imperfections, to grow, improve, adapt with the times, and eventually transform for the greater.    

The new Cream Silk Ultimate Reborn Conditioner is now available nationwide in leading supermarkets, groceries, drugstores, department stores, and online stores. Click here to shop now!