R'Bonney Gabriel admits to having an identity crisis being half-Pinoy
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Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel talks about the "tough love" she gets from her family.
The Filipino-American Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel reveals that while she is proud of her Filipino heritage, there was a time when she had an “identity crisis” for being Filipino-American.
In an interview on the Updated with Nelson Canlas podcast, R'Bonney said that although she was immersed in both Filipino and American traditions and culture while growing up, she still had a hard time identifying with her Filipino roots.
“I'm only half, my Filipino family would always maybe joke with me sometimes because I don't know everything,” she said.
She added that her not being able to speak too much Tagalog has always been a family joke. However, they were always looking out to teach her about different things.
“Like, how to eat or foods to try even. So, I mean, my family is always giving me tough love but they're so funny as well. And at this time they're extremely happy for me,” she related.
R'Bonney's dad, Remigio Bonzon Gabriel, also known as R'Bon, was from the Philippines and immigrated to Washington when he was 25 years old; while her mom, Dana Walker, is from Texas.
However, the new Miss Universe 2022 said that she does have a lot of Filipino quirks that surprised some of her friends in the US. One of which is her love for locally-made pastries like ensaymada and mamon.
“I don't eat meat, so I [eat] bakery sweets. So, I love to introduce people to mamon or ensaymada and I'm actually eating a lot of ensaymada,” she said.
She also revealed how she grew up using a Filipino broom to sweep the floor. She has even introduced it to friends as a better way to sweep the floor than the ones they have in the US.
The Fil-Am beauty queen added that she also surprised friends when she would pick up things on the floor with her foot, adding that she “never really realized that that was something different until I did that around my friends that weren't Filipino.”
“They were like what did you just do? And to me it was so natural to pick up something with my feet,” she added.
GET TO KNOW THE FILIPINO-AMERICAN MISS UNIVERSE 2022 R'BONNEY GABRIEL IN THIS GALLERY:
