Michelle Dee: Beauty with a Purpose

The cool and composed Michelle Dee opens up about growing up with two siblings with autism, winning the Miss World Philippines crown, and dealing with the pressures that come with being the daughter of a former title holder.

Words by Cara Emmeline Garcia

Photos by Joenaber Magallanes, GMA Artist Center, Glow Up, Michelle Dee (Instagram)

IN SEPTEMBER OF THIS YEAR, Michelle Marquez-Dee bagged not only the Miss World Philippines 2019 crown but also the Miss Sportswoman by FILA, Miss GCOX, Miss Best Skin by Cathy Valencia, Miss BENCH/, Miss Myra E, and Miss Bluewater Day Spa. The awards were so extreme that one might call it a stroke of luck for the 23-year-old beauty who stepped into pageantry for the first time.

But the actress, host, athlete, and supermodel, reveals it actually took years to convince herself to join the annual beauty pageant.

“I am my worst critic,” Michelle says as she sits comfortably in the makeup chair. “The whole topic of pageantry is actually one of the biggest contributors to my anxiety yearly. That’s why I backed out so many times.”

Three times to be exact.

We are in one of the makeup rooms at Studio 7 in GMA one fine Tuesday morning as Michelle prepares for a full day of shoot for the GMA News TV lifestyle show Glow Up.

A team of production staff and cameramen, together with her co-hosts Thia Thomalla and cousin Winwyn Marquez, comes in and greets the 5-foot-11-inches beauty queen.

It wasn’t too long ago when GMANetwork.com sat down with Michelle to talk about pageantry. Back then, she just quietly shrugged the idea of ever joining a beauty pageant, not knowing that four months later, her life would do a complete 360.

“The biggest change that I think that happened to me was, it really gave me such an accomplishment,” she says. “It really gave me such a boost and self-worth. Because I was doubting myself because I feel like I wasn’t good enough, and now that I won I’m battling a global stage now.”

Michelle admits that she didn’t expect to win but her focus and drive to keep her eyes on the prize has definitely given her the advantage over the other candidates a thousandfold. “I constantly surprise myself by doing things outside of my comfort zone,” she says, breaking out into a light chuckle. “And I usually come out as a stronger person with a lot of insights.”

“So many people told me about my potential. So I started asking myself, ‘If so many people can see that why can’t I see that for myself?’”

Not very many people know that while Michelle appears to be enjoying the most successful chapter of her life, she went through a brutal couple of years prior to joining the competition.

“What convinced me to join now is the fact that so many people told me about my potential. So I started asking myself, ‘If so many people can see that why can’t I see that for myself? And I would analyze my thoughts on it.”

She explains, “This year was the year when I felt I was strong enough mentally, physically, and emotionally to tackle this journey because it’s not just about the crown but the pressure that surrounds it.”

This “pressure” that she mentions comes in the forms of her mom Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez and cousin 2017 Reinahispanoamericana Winwyn Marquez. Michelle reveals “Just that pressure alone to actually perform and to win is at an all-time high."

She adds, “If I had joined three years ago, I really feel that I wouldn’t have survived or gone as far as I did now.”

The Purpose Behind Beauty

Born on April 24, 1996, Michelle Dee is the daughter of Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez and former action star Derek Dee.

She grew up in a suburban town of Utah. She describes her childhood as a “very humbling experience.”

An adrenaline junkie, she grew up in a household that fostered independence. At the age of 8, Michelle became fascinated with riding a horse she fondly called Frog (“kasi lagi siyang tumatalon when she was a baby pa”), getting into a four-wheeler truck, surfing, wakeboarding, and joining almost every varsity team at her school.

“Feel ko nga I got it from my mom—'yung pagka-daredevil,” she reveals. “Kasi my dad wouldn’t be caught doing that despite the fact that he was the action star. Whenever I wanted to try something new, I feel like she was more of the supportive ‘go do it’ mom as opposed to being the controlling, dictating mom.”

She recalls a four-wheeler car ride that led to breaking her arm and mommy Melanie covering her mischievous deed. “I was so scared that my stepdad was the one who was gonna find the broken four-wheeler,” she recalls. “But my mom was the one who was there and pinagtakpan niya ako. Pero wala e, bali 'yung kamay ko.

“Looking back at it, it’s something that I feel like it really helped shape my values,” she says. “It taught me independence and it was just fun kasi when you wake up, you see the view of the mountains, you see the horses, the river would be like a 5-minute walk away.”

Melanie Marquez and Michelle Dee

Michelle has a preternatural gift for empathy — a quality that made her a confidante for so many people.

She credits her family, in particular, her two siblings Mazen Marquez and Adam Lawyer, both with autism, for teaching her to be more compassionate toward others.

“They were lovely. I mean growing up with my older brother, it raised a lot of questions na, ‘Bakit ganun ’yung kuya mo?’ and ‘Bakit hindi mo siya makausap?’,” she remembers. “But at the same time since he was older I was already accustomed to it, na parang, that’s my reality, that’s how it is.

“It was really inevitable,” she adds as she looks at her reflection in the mirror. “Pero it’s okay naman. I think my parents were able to explain to me why they are the way they are. And that, all you really have is your family so you have to back them up.”

For Michelle, working her way through those tough times has given her a broader perspective of what she can do not only to her siblings but also to the world. “Basta, one of the things I advocate for is giving them purpose because they can.”

At the age of 16, Michelle eventually signed to be a part of the Center for Possibilities Foundation, a non-profit organization for kids with special needs founded by Dolores Cheng, the best friend of Regina Dee, Michelle’s grandma.

For the young Michelle, it was a natural course to take as the cause was close to her heart. “I think it’s because while I was being raised, I was already taught certain values and I really took it to heart,” she says. “It’s just that at that age, around 16 or 17, that’s when I truly joined a foundation.”

“If you were to consider what an advocate is, it’s someone that believes in something and fights for something. I would probably be an advocate my whole life because I know how to stand up for what’s right or true for myself.”

Currently, Michelle’s main foundation is the Autism Society of the Philippines, a national, non-profit organization working toward an environment that empowers persons with autism spectrum disorder. The organization is so huge, that it’s front lining the Autism Bill that is pending in the Senate to this day.

“That is something that I really admire about Autism Society of the Philippines and Center for Possibilities Foundation. It’s because they really go to lengths to fight for the cause that they believe in,” she says. “I love every foundation that supports the cause.”

For Michelle, being an advocate for the cause was a no-brainer. “If you were to consider what an advocate is, it’s someone that believes in something and fights for something,” she tells firmly. “So, if you were to consider that meaning, I would probably be an advocate my whole life because I know how to stand up for what’s right or true for myself.”

Autism was also one of the reasons Michelle took up a BS Psychology course at De La Salle University. “If you’re a psychologist the first rule of thumb is: You never judge someone from the outside or from your first impression,” she says. “’Cause when you meet somebody, most people have the tendency to judge. But the thing that Psychology has taught me is the values on how to deal with people —it's something that I’ve been doing throughout my life.”

And it seems like this young woman shows no signs of changing this belief. Not now. Not ever.

When asked what she hopes the world to know about people living in the spectrum, Michelle has one wish in mind: “It’s just for people to start asking the right questions instead of bullying or shaming them.”

She explains, “You know a lot of these autistic people, they didn’t have a choice. They were born this way. So isn’t it up to us to try to understand them? Isn’t it our responsibility to make sure that they are given the future to be taken care of?”

Just like Michelle, the future is bright for the cause that she is fighting for.

Currently, her work with the Autism Society of the Philippines has led her to participate in different programs like “Autism Works” where the organization tries to get as many companies and businesses to employ kids on the spectrum.

“I guess my hope is that the Philippines becomes an autism-ok nation,” she says. “There are so many big Fortune 500 companies now that are taking steps into employing kids on the spectrum and they’re actually seeing that autistic kids have great statistical progress in terms of focus and productivity, and that’s my hope not only in the Philippines but of the whole world.”

She adjusts her seat so her makeup artist can apply her signature smokey eye makeup in place. But before she moves forward with another question, she reiterates, “I wouldn’t mind speaking my mind towards the cause. I’d love to be a spokesperson for the cause and help any way I can.”

Dee for the World

As mentioned earlier, Michelle never really dreamed of becoming a beauty queen. “It’s something that I didn’t aspire to become growing up,” she says. “But, what I aspire to be is a person that can do good for my community.”

What convinced her to join the ranks of celebrities-turned-beauty-queens?

Michelle’s answer is simple, “Honestly, it’s the ‘Beauty with a Purpose.’”

Action speaks louder than words. Although Michelle’s words are few, her actions speak volumes. “You know having that purpose talaga really gives me the drive to keep doing what I’m doing,” she says.

“Because I don’t want to do things selfishly and I feel like if my purpose was just to gain fame then I wouldn’t be happy. And isn’t happiness something we all strive to have at the end of the day?”

With her head held high, it’s evident that Michelle is the right woman for the Miss World Philippines crown.

Despite her title, Michelle says that she still is that same girl who grew up in a ranch. “Obviously, we all have a public image to uphold but the way I converse with people and the way I treat them is not an off and on switch,” she says.

“I try to be authentic as genuine as possible because being a beauty queen is more than just winning over the judges, it’s also about presenting who you are and hoping that your morals and the organization’s morals align... Because I wouldn't want to have to change myself for anything.”

“I don’t want to do things selfishly and I feel like if my purpose was just to gain fame then I wouldn’t be happy. And isn’t happiness something we all strive to have at the end of the day?”

This also seems to be her disposition when it comes to addressing the haters who have been mobbing her social media page since she was hailed Miss World Philippines 2019.

“Well, first of all in terms of comparison [with my mom] it’s already there — it’s something that I already dealt a lot and I’m at peace with,” she says with a chuckle.

“But with the bashers, honestly, I’m not someone that takes them into consideration. I don’t allow them to affect me because they don’t know me and I’m aware of that.”

True to her cool and calm attitude, the best revenge she could give is “to not give any care. They don’t know what they’re talking about because if they were the ones in my shoes they wouldn’t know what to do.”

Now more than ever, Michelle is convinced she’s ready to make a name in the international stage.

“Being a beauty queen is more than just winning over the judges, it’s also about presenting who you are and hoping that your morals and the organization’s morals align.”

She is, after all, not only armed with good looks, charm, and smarts, but also the best of the best of what the country can offer.

She recently revealed that she’ll be wearing a custom gown by Filipino couturier Francis Libiran and will be bringing in known local products.

“So, I don’t really feel like it’s just me bringing something to the table but more of a collective help from the Philippines going to the Miss World,” she says.

More than the beautiful gowns that she's going to wear, Michelle hopes that it's the Filipino values that people would get to see (and remember) in the competition.

“I think the biggest thing that I can bring to the Miss World stage is really my values and I feel like I have embodied the Filipino traits as well,” she says. “As I said earlier, I wouldn’t be in pageantry if it wasn’t for the purpose and I know that the morals of the Miss World Organization align with that.”

Being selfless is what this young beauty queen really is all about and we’re convinced she’s got what it takes to bring home the crown the second time around.

“It’s really not just about yourself, it’s really carrying your national flag and giving pride to it.”

She adds, “It’s showcasing that we are capable of making waves to the world and change the world despite that stigma of being in a third world country. We’re capable of doing wonders and doing amazing things and that’s the beauty of the heart of the Filipinos.”

Michelle has a whole day ahead of her. Aside from her shoot for Glow Up, she has a ton of speaking engagements to go to, charity organizations to visit, workout sessions to squeeze in, a fitting to attend to, and a talent portion to practice.

Looking at Michelle, one can tell that she is not a bit worried about the outcome of her Miss World bid.

Win or lose, she promises to continue to fight for the cause that she believes in and bring pride to her country.

In the eyes of her brother and her countrymen, Michelle is already a winner, a true beauty with a purpose.

“We’re capable of doing wonders and doing amazing things and that’s the beauty of the heart of the Filipinos.”