She may be petite, but Sparkle artist AZ Martinez is still able to leave a big impression with her stunning splendor, which viewers get to see in “Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Collab Edition” as one of its housemates. But before captivating us with her flawless beauty inside Kuya’s house, the up-and-coming Kapuso star snapped a few gorgeous selfies, which we assembled in this gallery!   

She’s among the female celebrities we know whose ticket to showbiz was by joining a beauty pageant. She made her debut in the Hiyas ng Pilipinas in 2022, wherein she was hailed Miss Elite Philippines, yet wasn’t able to represent the country in the international competition due to a certain circumstance. AZ only got to do it when she was sent to the Miss Summit International 2023, which she subsequently won and resulted in her appointment as the Philippine Youth Ambassadress 2023 by the Philippine Youth Organization.

AZ began her storytelling by imparting that she used to live in Cebu with her mother while her father was here in Manila with her brother following the separation of her parents. She couldn’t help but get emotional as she narrated her family’s “riches-to-rags” journey after their businesses went bankrupt. This compelled her mom to sell their house, which really meant so much for her as it held a lot of their family’s memorable moments together.  

She was discovered on social media and started as a model before she made the decision to join beauty pageants to have something that she and her family could be proud of. Even though she faced difficulties throughout her journey, she still managed to win her first-ever beauty pageant. It paved the way for her to join Sparkle and fulfill her ambition of becoming an actress.  

The Cebuana stunner immediately got cast in a television drama despite having no acting experience, which made her a subject of criticism. She has also been hounded by insecurities as she tends to compare herself with other artists and hear nasty remarks from people whom she considers as friends in the industry. These discouraged her from pursuing acting, more so when her father died, which made her feel that everything in her life was already falling apart. 

But she’s able to rise up from those setbacks and challenges, as she has chosen to focus on herself. Aside from being able to showcase her acting chops through her appearances in a slew of television shows on her home network, she has also managed to enroll herself in a private school and even become a scholar.  

Watch out how the “Miss-Sunuring Daughter ng Cebu” would fare in “PBB Celebrity Collab Edition” by not missing an episode, weeknights at 10 PM and on weekends at 6:15 PM via GMA Network. You may also watch it online via livestreams on the official YouTube channel of Pinoy Big Brother, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), and iWantTFC.