Beauty queens Beatrice Luigi Gomez, Hannah Arnold, and Kat Llegado share their thoughts on the recent announcement that the Miss Universe pageant is lifting the age restriction for contestants.

The three were present during the grand opening and ribbon cutting event of MLB at SM Aura on Wednesday, September 20.  

In an interview with PUSH, Beatrice, who won as Miss Universe-Philippines 2021, said, “I think that they’re much more inclusive now, not just with the qualifications for the height, for gender preference, but also with the age. I feel like there’s a lot of women like me who almost missed joining pageants just because of my age. I was in a hurry to join before because I was already running out of time. But now, I’m very glad that a lot of girls will have the opportunity to join despite their age.”

Agreeing with Beatrice’s statements, Kat, who finished as Miss Universe-Philippines 2022 2nd runner up, said, “And of course, parang it just doesn’t stop when you’re 28 or there’s a restriction. So right now, there’s no more limitation that everyone can dream and just [work] to achieve their goals.”

For Binibining Pilipinas International 2021 Hannah, she said, “It’s so nice that there’s no deadline so you can still do other things. You can balance school and career, and then when you’re ready, you can join [at] whatever age. And for me, I’m just so excited to see some queens we knew in the past. I think they will wanna come back now, now that they can so I’m excited to see who comes back and join.”  

Giving a message for those who also aspire to be beauty queens, Kat said, “Just keep on chasing that dream and work hard for it. I know that once you set your mind and heart on it, you will really achieve that. And now there’s no limitation, restriction, just go for it.”

Beatrice said, “One of the [pieces of] advice I haven’t given before is be comfortable with change. It’s something scary but you’ll never know what’s on the other side so just face your fears even if it’s challenging. Just keep on pushing, you’ll never know what being uncomfortable might bring you.”

“For me, have a good support system whether that’s your glam team or your family, friends, partner because at the end of the day, there the ones that know you the most and then you can like let out everything, all your emotions, they’ll tell you the truth but in a constructive way. Just be ready for other outside noise but at the end of the day, listen to those who know you the most,” concluded Hannah.