Cynthia Thomalla from Philippines was crowned Miss Eco International 2018 on 27th April 2018 in Cairo, Egypt. Cynthia went onto create a history as she was the first Filipina beauty to win the title of Miss Eco International who bared her advocacy for sustainable tourism and responsible traveling at the competition. She is also a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and works as an actress and a model currently.
Cynthia was signed by the GMA Artist Center, post her reign; after which she expressed her desire to act and attended acting workshops, reading, and acting to finesse her art. After working hard on herself she landed a big television break where she was casted for a supporting role in the Alden Richards-starrer, “The Gift”.
The diva in a recent interview mentioned that she has beauty pageants to thank for the confidence and self-assurance she has now. She explained, “I grew up very shy and joining pageants made me realize what my strengths and weaknesses are. It was the starting point of my growth as a person. I don’t think I will have this kind of confidence if I didn’t join pageants.”
Cynthia mentioned that she always aspired to be a beauty queen but was very shy to do so but when she participated at Miss World Philippines 2017 and was crowned Miss Eco International Philippines 2018, she realized that she shouldn’t be afraid of her strength and weakness as she can use them to emerge as a strong woman and she wants to be known for her skills and a strong woman. The diva also mentioned that she knows that she is not perfect or the fittest one but she has worked hard for the self-assurance and confidence she has right now and she is very proud of herself for that. She stated, that despite being beautiful and talented, she had her days of niggling insecurities and at one point the pressure of being perfect became unbearable to her.
Recalling her stint at Miss World Philippines 2017 and her initial modeling days, Cynthia mentioned, “There was a time when I was surrounded by people who told me that I should be perfect. I should be slim, sexy, smart … that I should have the answer to everything. But it was stressful. It didn’t make me happy.” It was only when Cynthia accepted her flaws and insecurities, she started to become more confident and assured that there is nothing that can stop her from representing the Philippines at international stage.
“I avoid people who think that perfection is the only way to go. My flaws are my flaws. I must embrace them. Then, you get to know yourself better and grow. It has been a journey,” Thia said. After debuting as an actress on-screen, the diva started to take up acting workshops and working hard towards building her career as an actress. She mentioned that she would like to focus on her acting career as of now and won’t be juggling too many things at once.
Cynthia looks up to Queenie Rehman and Megan Young, who represented the Philippines in Miss World in 2012 and 2013 as her inspiration and states that she is happy with her crown right now but, in case if she ever gets a chance in future, she would like to participate in a beauty pageant again. “If the time is right and things fall into place, then yes. If not, then no. We will see,” she added.
Talking about beauty pageants, Thia stated that she believes that beauty pageants gives the women who wants to genuinely promote a cause and change the society a platform to work on a large scale. She believes that she will choose pageants whose advocacies align with hers. She also stated that right now the postponing or canceling of the beauty pageants is the right thing to do because the safety and health of the candidates who will be flying from around the world should be the top priority. She welcomed the decision of some pageants who have extended the age limit for hopefuls who may end up being affected by the postponements and cancellations.
The diva who is also a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador stated that aside from environmental issues and child malnutrition, she hopes to raise awareness about testicular cancer, which claimed his elder brother’s life last year. “I want to help erase the stigma on boys having testicular cancer. My brother didn’t voice out his problem earlier, so it was already too late for us to help him when we learned about it. I don’t want anyone to experience what we did,” she said.