Here are some interesting facts about newly crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi:
1. The 64th Miss Universe in 2015 held in Las Vegas was the first pageant Celeste watched. Prior to this, she was totally ignorant about pageants. Of course, 2015 was when Pia Wurtzbach won as Miss Universe and Celeste found inspiration in Pia's performance then.
2. Celeste's father is an Italian from Venezuela who died when she was only 10 years old. Her Filipino mother Ma. Luisa from Camarines Sur was the first and biggest influence in her decision to join pageantry. Her mom encouraged her to go to the Philippines and try her luck. So she did, representing the Filipino community in Italy in Miss Earth Philippines 2018 which she won.
3. Celeste worked as a model and a store cashier in the city of Parma, Italy. She said she lived a very simple life in the city famous for parmesan cheese. Her routine was the same everyday and she said she was doing the best she could to help her mom and sister with bills.
4. Celeste dated for several years Italian football player Yan Koliatko in her home city in Italy. Their pictures together are still on his Instagram. Their relationship ended when she went to the Philippines.
5. She is now in a relationship with another football player, British-Filipino model Mathew Custodio and they are sweet fur parents to a dog. Mathew plays as a defender for the Philippine Azkals. His LinkedIn profile also lists him as a managing partner for a realty company called Beyond Properties Core Group Inc.
6. Celeste is now studying to be a licensed real estate broker. She said she is "very passionate"about this job which will enable her to showcase all the beautiful places in the Philippines.
7. The beauty queen also dated actor Joseph Marco in 2019. Sources say the relationship with Marco affected her reign as Miss Earth Philippines. Celeste has since then recovered and declared: " I should not be judged for my mistakes in the past."
8. Celeste is a big fan of Vampire Diaries and had a crush on Ian Somerhalder who played Damon Salvatore in the show.
9. Some of Celeste's favorite hobbies are reading and meditating. She's a believer in manifesting your dreams and looks like it worked.
10. Celeste is the typical Filipino-Italian who likes eating and confesses to not following a diet. "I don't like depriving myself of food. You don't need to diet, you just have to balance what you eat. Consume more protein and less of the sugar." Way to go girl!