EXCLUSIVE! Pia Wurtzbach, Carla Lizardo, And Bianca Guidotti On Their "Between Us Queens" Spotify Original Podcast

On how their friendship led to the creation of a podcast, they all turned to Carla who, after her pageant life, moved on to become a TV host and sportscaster. Carla shared that her mentor on a broadcasting workshop she attended at the Australian Embassy was the root of it all. The mentor encouraged her to pursue podcasting since Carla can talk about pageantry which is big and widely supported in the Philippines. That's how their "Queentuhan" podcast, which has reached three seasons, was born.

“So I opened it up to Pia and Bianca. I also approached Trypod Network tapos lahat naman sila nag-game which I was super happy about. It was just a random idea that we just decided to do for fun, and who would have thought that it would grow into something like this?” Carla happily shares. Pia was quick to add that they’ve always wanted to do a project together.

“Game kami agad! It kind of felt natural. Madaldal kaming tatlo and we knew a lot about the topics so it felt natural and as we went along, marami pa kaming natutunan kasi hosts kami ng show na 'to. Natuto kami on how to really handle interviews and how to speak to people. Feeling ko nag-improve 'yung public speaking or hosting skills ko because of this kasi you learn how to do a nice give and take,” Pia, Miss Universe 2015, explains. The podcast’s initial livestream “Queentuhan” chats that evolved into a podcast was supposed to be a one-off fun project. But then the pandemic happened and the three felt the need to keep at it.

“Marami namang nanonood, marami namang nakikinig. Mukhang nag-e-enjoy naman sila tapos kami nafi-feel din namin, as friends, na parang therapeutic din na may kausap ka every week. It really worked. And now we’re here and we’re doing a new show with broader topics and it’s exclusive pa on Spotify and everybody knows Spotify so we’re really excited na napansin nila kami,” Pia continues.

Bianca was equally grateful for the serendipitous opportunity. “Thankfully, Spotify took notice of us. They told us ‘I think you guys are great, I think you’d work on everyday topics’ and they’re right. We are enjoying ‘Between Us Queens’ so much. We are so excited for all the topics that are coming up. Mga tipong akala mo ayaw mong pag-usapan pero kapag pinag-usapan nyo na, parang it’s nice to know about these things,” Bianca says.

According to the trio, they decide on topics to discuss based on their gut feel and how excited they are about the topic. “Kapag excited kami doon, ibig sabihin marami kaming mashe-share which makes for a good episode,” Pia notes. She added that they also get ideas from the “Between us Queens” Facebook community which now has over 3,000 members and counting. Spotify podcast listeners can look forward to a variety of interesting topics such as quarter-life crisis, relationship stories, women-centric episodes, career talks, defining success, and a lot more topics along these lines.

Asked how personally meaningful this passion project is to them amid a challenging time, the three weren’t afraid to share their vulnerabilities. “Nakakatulong s'ya sa akin sa quarter-life crisis na pinagdadaanan ko ngayon. Parang ang tagal ko nang naka-box in doon sa pageant thing. I’ve been holding on to that image for so long na medyo na-lost na ako na parang what do I stand for? Ano ba 'yung opinion ko dito? Medyo nawawala. [The podcast] helps me kind of rediscover myself so it’s also nice for me to use this as a place of reflection. I’m also doing this with two of my best friends and marami akong natututunan from Bianca and from Pia,” Carla confesses.

Bianca pensively shared her thoughts as well. “This podcast is really stripping away whatever mask you may have kasi we’re asking people to be honest eh, we’re asking people to share their experiences so the least we can do is do the same. Be honest about our experiences, our failings as well as our successes and show them a more real and holistic view of who we are which is not just [about] the pretty faces, the pretty pictures and the pretty gowns and the makeup,” she begins.

“It has changed how I think about myself, how I think about other people and other women and I realized, especially this pandemic, that there is no better time for us to call for unity, try to lift each other up, try to understand and learn from each other as well as push each other to grow better,” Bianca adds.

For Pia, it was a project that also personally moved her and made her appreciate the “Between us Queens” community they have created. “One thing that I really love about this podcast is that we also have the community. Ang ganda ng mga conversations. It felt like I’m doing something right kasi we’re actually helping women. Hindi lang kami sa pageants may purpose,” she begins, saying that they intend to include audio clips from the Facebook community on some of their podcast episodes.

“I’ve been in the pageant scene for a few years now and you know, it came to a point na iniisip ko kung meron pa ba akong ibang p'wedeng gawin na labas naman sa pageantry? And this ‘Between Us Queens’ came in at just the right time and it made me feel excited again about something. There are new things we can talk about and I can finally share real experiences and hindi na puro Miss Universe. Not that I’m [ungrateful]… but after a while, you want to talk about other things—real girl things and I love that I’m able to do this show with Carla and Bianca,” Pia, now a full-fledged podcaster, concludes.

“Between Us Queens” is one of the recently launched Filipino Spotify originals from Spotify Studios which include Wil Dasovich’s “Superhuman,” Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao’s “The Raid with Alodia & Ashley,” Donnalyn Bartolome’s “Itatama Pa Ba o Tama Na?,” Juan Miguel Severo’s “Huwag ‘tong Makakalabas,” Team Payaman’s “Payaman Insider,” and Benedict Cua and Kristian Somera’s “Growing up with Ben and Kris.”