Miss Colombia 2015 Ariadna Gutierrez broke her silence after getting flak for likening Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach to a ‘ghost’ during her interview with Miss Colombia 2017 Laura Barjum and YouTuber Hector Cermeno.
The Colombian beauty queen shared that she did not expect Wurtzbach as her competition for the crown because she barely saw her during the pageant.
“I actually saw her twice during the competition, once at the dining area and during rehearsals. But a person like a… a ghost! You see her and never again, like the exit signs! Nobody saw her,” she said in Spanish which was translated by Pageanthology 101.
“I used to go with the Latinas but we sat with the Asians and I did not notice her. She was very solitary, too. I did not notice her and when I did, I did not think of her as my competition. That is the truth,” she added.
Miss Bulgaria Radostina Todorova, who was praised five years ago for being supportive of the Filipina-German beauty queen, defended Wurtzbach and explained why Gutierrez rarely noticed her.
Entertainment News Portal quoted Todorova saying, “Of course you didn’t see her! I remember you were always laughing at us, at our clothes and jewelry, at our walk and talk. You were only with the other Latinas looking down on us!”
She went on and said: “I stand behind my words and that’s why we were all so happy Pia won. You need to be beautiful inside and out, not only looking like a Victoria’s Secret model and act like the queen of England! You will never be, unless you start acting like a decent human being!”
Following the now-viral interview, The Bulgarian beauty then said on her Instagram that she could not believe that Wurtzbach winning the title five years ago is still an issue. It can be recalled that host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Miss Colombia as Miss Universe 2015 only to be retracted after a few minutes and clarified that Miss Philippines won.
“I don’t mean to offend anyone. But after 5 years still commenting on the winner this way … as if she was nobody?! I mean, to be beautiful like Pia is something you don’t do at the esthetician’s cabinet, it’s something you accomplish at school and at your community,” she said.
“And not only Pia. I remember all of the beautiful women at this pageant! I remember them all because they were speaking, smiling and helping each other feel good about themselves! We were there to embrace beauty! And it has nothing to do with how you look but how you make people feel around you! That’s the beauty of being a queen! And Pia does it all. Period,” she added.
In a comment that was picked up by Pageanthology 101, Gutierrez agreed to a netizen saying that she was misunderstood and what she actually meant was she didn’t see Wurtzbach during the pre-pageant activities and only realized that Wurtzbach was a competition during the pageant night.
“I know, exactly what I said. But people don’t ever understand what I said SMH (shaking my head). Thank you for saying it how it is. I feel so sad for the super nice Philippinos (sic) I’ve met in my life. They are not like this,” Gutierrez said.
Wurtzbach ended the 42-year drought after being hailed as the third Filipina who has won the Miss Universe crown. She has yet to comment on the issue.
