Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Michelle Dee revealed that she was "sabotaged" when she competed in her first international beauty pageant.
In Bea Alonzo's vlog on 9 September, the beauty queen sat down and answered the actress' questions while doing a lie detector test.
Asked by Alonzo if she had been sabotaged during a competition, Dee responded calmly with: "Yeah, once lang during my first international competition."
Dee recounted that she was always careful with her gowns, especially the ones she would wear for the National Costume category.
"They lived in separate luggages, locked until I needed to wear them," Dee said.
For her first international pageant in London, Dee wore an intricate golden terno with custom embroidery patterns. The gown's look was completed by two golden fans as accessories.
"During our rehearsals, I was wearing a beautiful piece by Francis Libiran. I had two golden fans. So, we had, I think, a group photo or something, so I had to put my fans down," Dee said.
But after the photo session, Dee noticed that her fans were gone. Thankfully, Libiran's team was prepared to produce another set of fans, while other kababayan sought to help.
"This is why I love Pinoys all over the world — that hotel had so many Pinoys. I was like, 'My fans are missing,' so they looked through all the CCTVs," she recalled.
Dee didn't elaborate on who was the culprit behind the fiasco. Someone just knocked on her door the same night, and the missing fans were already on the floor, proving they were indeed stolen.
The 28-year-old beauty queen also recalled Miss World 2013 Megan Young's pageant advice: "Bring a backup all the time."
"Megan Young actually advised me that if there's something very, very important – like, for an outfit change, a bun extension, bring two. Bring a backup all the time," Dee said, citing backstage horror stories of zippers being cut and "bad things" being done to someone's outfits.
Aside from pageant-related questions, Dee also answered questions about dating, personal goals and sexuality.
In May, the actress-beauty queen revealed that she is bisexual.
"The reason why I came out is because I really wanted to take control over the narrative, take control over my story because if you do have to come out, then that should come from you… Then also take the opportunity to empower and inspire people that might be going through the same thing," she said.
The proudly out and empowered Dee is gearing up for the Miss Universe 2023 competition to be held in El Salvador in November.
