Pia Wurtzbach represented the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2015 on 20th December 2015 at The AXIS in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. She was crowned Miss Universe 2015 by her predecessor Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega of Colombia at the end of the event finale becoming the third Filipina beauty to win the crown after 42 years after Margarita Moran in 1973. She is one of the most successful and loved Miss Universe queens who has not only impressed everyone with her gracious and confident reign but also inspired young girls to keep working hard for their dreams.
Pia was born to a German father and Filipina mother and in Germany but later shifted to Northern Mindanao in Philippines. After Pia’s parents separated, she became the breadwinner of the family and started modeling and acting. She finished her secondary education at ABS-CBN Distance Learning Center in Quezon City, Metro Manila, and studied culinary arts at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies in San Juan, Metro Manila.
Pia started her career as a beauty queen when she decided to participate at Binibining Pilipinas 2013 where she was adjudged as the first runner-up and decided to come back the next year in Binibining Pilipinas 2014 where she finished at Top 15. Pia was determined to win the title and represent the Philippines at the international stage and this detemination brought her back on-stage as she decided to participate at Binibining Pilipinas 2015 where she was finally crowned as Miss Universe Philippines 2015 and earned her chance to represent the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2015.
During the final question and answer round at Binibining Pilipinas 2015 Pia was asked, “Social media is now a very powerful tool on communication. Can you tell us your thoughts about internet censorship?" To which she answered, “I think that we should be careful about what we post online especially our thoughts and our opinions, that we don’t hurt anybody especially selfies, we must be careful with what we post especially in our bodies, in our faces. So always think before you click.” This answer impressed everyone at the competition and Pia was selected as the winner.
The diva impressed everyone at the Miss Universe 2015 competition and was one of the strongest contenders for the title. During the final question and answer round she was asked, “Why should you be the next Miss Universe?" to which Pia replied, “To be a Miss Universe is both an honor and responsibility. If I were to be Miss Universe, I will use my voice to influence the youth, and I would raise awareness to certain causes like HIV awareness that is timely and relevant to my country which is the Philippines. I want to show the world, the universe rather, that I am confidently beautiful with a heart. Thank you.”
Pia impressed the judges and the audience at the show and made it to the Top spots. One of the reasons why Miss Universe 2015 is an iconic beauty pageant in the history because the host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Miss Universe Colombia 2015 Aridna Gutierrez as the winner of the competition but soon came back on-stage to announce that Pia Wurtzbach from the Philippines is the rightful winner and he read the results wrong. Soon, Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega removed the crown from Adrina’s head and crowned Pia.
After winning the crown, Pia mentioned, "I felt calm when I was called first runner-up because I felt it was fate. But when they announced that I was Miss Universe, I had mixed emotions. I was happy because I really wanted to win but felt sad for Miss Colombia." Philippines presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda praised Wurtzbach following the pageant for being graceful throughout the competition and during the announcement. “In the first few moments of the original announcement, she showed tremendous poise and control, and even more tremendous graciousness when the real verdict was finally announced,” he said.
The diva travelled across the world to carry out her advocacy which is to create awareness about HIV along with educating people about bullying and much more. In 2017, she revealed that she has signed a contract with WME/IMG’s IMG Universe division and with this she will continue to work with the Miss Universe Organization as an HIV/AIDS awareness advocate after her reign.
Pia is also an advocate for gender equality and declared her support for LGBTQ community in the light of the Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016. She was named a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific in 2017 where she will raise awareness among young people, as well as promote zero discrimination towards people living with HIV and key populations including men who have sex with men and transgender people. She recently received the award for 'Woman of the Year' at the Xpedition Annual Gala Awards 2020 in Dubai. She is also WWF Philippines Ambassador.
In a recent interview, the diva declared that she works twice as hard after her reign ended because she must live up to the same expectation. She explained, “Because the peak is the win, and then the reign. After that, usually, you got to work twice as hard to keep yourself up there, to keep yourself relevant and in the public eye. I don’t do any, like, weird gimmicks to make people talk about me, but I continue with the work. I still do activities like this, where I get invited abroad, I wouldn’t miss this opportunity. Of course, I’m here. I want to personally be able to do the shoots, I want to do these looks, but I also want to do advocacy work. This was my dream. If you love what you do, it’s not difficult.”
During the interview, she also shared that the rumors that stated that she was threatened with Catriona Gray winning Miss Universe 2018 was baseless as she believes that Catriona is one of the best Miss Universe queens and has a story to tell. She has always been positive and empowering towards other pageant winners and urge the young girls to keep working until they have achieved what they have dreamt of.
For Pia, the advocacy work is at the forefront of her responsibilities, and she’s inspired by her own experiences. She also explained, “When I talk about mental health awareness, I’ve also gone through depression and anxiety myself, and people really close to me, so I relate to it … That’s why I’m able to speak about it, it becomes easier when you have personal experiences.” She’s a brand ambassador for several companies in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. She has her own milk tea business back home, called Bestie.
Pia states that the coming year she will be reconnecting with people and herself and the pandemic has helped her to do that to an extent but she is looking forward to do more. “This year kind of made forced me to think about what really makes me happy. And I think I’m slowly learning the answer,” she lastly added. Pia completes five years of her crowning as Miss Universe 2015 and we wish her good luck and all the happiness for her future endeavors.