Newly crowned Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortesi almost didn't join this year's contest.
She revealed in an interview recently that she was actually planning to join the pageant next year.
But a certain somebody changed her mind: Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo.
Apparently, the two are quite close.
Celeste attested, "Me and Rabiya are very close, and I remember that before submitting my application for Miss Universe Philippines, I was talking to her and I was opening up about me wanting to join next year, not this year. I was telling her that I just want to prepare and be ready 100%."
But Rabiya would have none of it.
According to Celeste, Rabiya told her to "just go for it."
"Rabiya's so straightforward, she's really telling me just go for it, don't think about it too much. (She said) 'You will never be prepared, you just have to send the application and everything will follow. So it was one of the best advice because I was really listening to her and she's also one of the reasons why I decided to go for it."
And a good thing too as she did go on to win the MUPH crown.