Annabelle McDonnell: Rock bottom to rising star

At the recently concluded Binibining Pilipinas 2025 beauty pageant, one voice cut through the glamor that left the nation in awe. That voice belonged to Annabelle Mae McDonnell. A clear frontrunner, she didn’t just answer the question asked her — she delivered a life truth.

“Speaking as someone who experienced involuntary hunger and malnourishment at the age of 15, I say that I wish you never go hungry another night. I think that when you hit rock bottom, you don’t despair. And don’t use that as your identity, but rather use rock bottom as your launchpad,” she said, in answer to her pageant question.

Those words weren’t scripted or prepared. They were spontaneous and forged in the fire of real struggle. At 15, living in a family of limited means in Iligan City, Annabelle didn’t just know hunger — she lived it. But instead of letting it define her, she made it the fuel for her dreams.

Annabelle’s story goes beyond pageant speeches. This is a young woman who at a young age sold bread, “ukay-ukay,” and engaged in all “rackets” to help her family survive.

I remember her from the 2022 Miss Universe Philippines preliminaries, where she also competed and where I served as a judge. Even then, she spoke with a raw honesty that left us silent, moved, and inspired. She didn’t just hunger for food — she hungered for change. Change for the better. And not just for herself but for others as well.

What makes Annabelle stand out is not the hardship itself, but what she chose to do with it.

Where many would have buckled and given up in the face of unrelenting challenges, she built up. Where others saw defeat, she saw a starting point. Rock bottom was not her prison; it became, in her own words, her launchpad.

That’s why her personal journey matters. In a world where success often seems reserved for the privileged, Annabelle proves to all and sundry that true power comes from rising when you are prostrate on the ground. She speaks for the invisible, for the hungry, for those who feel unseen and unheard.

Now as Binibining Pilipinas Ms Globe 2025, she wears more than a crown — she carries a mission. Her fight against hunger and malnutrition, which she has long espoused, isn’t just an advocacy — it’s her life story. That’s what makes it real; that is what makes it powerful and urgent.

Annabelle’s rise from rock bottom to star is a reminder to all of us: no matter how dark life gets, no matter how low we fall, or how often, we can rise. We can dream. And we can win.

Because true beauty isn’t about the crown on your head — it’s about the fire in your heart and the strength of your indomitable spirit. And Annabelle Mae McDonnell is living proof of that.