After competing in the 71st Miss Universe in 2022 and launching a showbiz career with various television projects, Celeste Cortesi is now ready to expand her reach as the newest artist of Viva Artists Agency (VAA).

The Filipina-Italian beauty queen had her sights set on the Miss Universe crown in 2022. Representing Pasay, she was crowned Miss Universe Philippines and represented the country in the Miss Universe 2022 pageant held in the United States.

Although she left the 2022 Miss Universe pageant without the crown, Celeste made a name for herself in local show business. She made her acting debut in the finale episode of Darna (2023), which starred Jane De Leon and Janella Salvador.

Celeste revealed that she has dreamed of acting since she was a child.

“Since I was young, I really wanted to act, and now, with Viva, I want to focus on doing action projects,” she said.

Since then, she has appeared in television projects, such as Pepito Manaloto: Tuloy Ang Kuwento and Walang Matigas na Pulis sa Matinik na Misis.

Apart from acting, Celeste has ventured into business by launching the lip care brand Asul, which offers lip balms that promise confidence and beauty through deep hydration with shea butter, natural plumping with peptides and daily protection from environmental stressors.

She also pursued real estate management studies at the Lyceum of Alabang to obtain her real estate license.

Viva Artists Agency (VAA) has a proven track record of transitioning beauty queens into successful actresses, including Charlene Gonzales, who portrayed the iconic role of Dyesebel; Anjanette Abayari, who starred as Darna; and Dindi Gallardo, who showcased versatility across various movie genres in the 1990s.

Currently, VAA manages beauty queens like Katarina Rodriguez, Cindy Miranda, Kylie Verzosa and Ruffa Gutierrez, all of whom have flourishing acting careers, demonstrating Viva’s effectiveness in nurturing beauty queens into accomplished actresses.

Celeste mentioned that she looks up to Anne Curtis as her role model in acting.

“I really look up to Anne Curtis; she’s my role model when it comes to acting. I met her in person, but we didn’t get a lot of interaction, to be honest. But I really look up to her,” she said.

As the newest artist of VAA, Celeste is embracing numerous opportunities, including movie and TV projects, hosting gigs and brand deals.

In this next chapter of her career, she is ready to achieve success in the entertainment industry.