5 key takeaways from Celeste Cortesi's preparations that can help her win the Miss Universe crown

The Miss Universe 2023 Coronation Night is fast approaching and Philippine bet Celeste Cortesi is looking super ready!

On Dr. Vicki Belo's YouTube channel, Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortesi shared a glimpse into her preparation to win the crown for the Philippines.

1. She went after her dreams and waited until she was ready

Joining Miss Universe, Celeste said, "has always been my dream."

"Of course, you know, Filipino moms, like, they always want to see their daughters be Miss Universe. But it was really my idea, my desire to join," she added.

Celeste wouldn't call herself adventurous, so she surprised herself when she decided to go after her dreams and move to the Philippines all the way from Italy to pursue her dreams. She did this all by herself, at age 19, while speaking no English. 

"I just wanted to do it and so I did," she said.

She stopped joining beauty pageants after being crowned Miss Earth Philippines 2018, saying "I still didn't know the meaning of beauty pageants at the time, like, you know, your purpose, the fact that you're carrying the whole country, like it's a heavy weight."

"You have to be ready for the responsibility, to be honest. And at the time, I was not, so I waited years."

At 24 years old, Celeste felt ready. She tried out for Miss Universe 2023, won, and by the time she turned 25 last December, she was well on her way to representing the country — "carrying the whole country," to quote her — at the most prestigious beauty pageant. 

2. She's working to learn more Filipino 

Aside from joining pageants, Celeste said she came to the Philippines to get to know her heritage.

"I wanted to explore the Philippines, you know, my heritage. It's something that I really wanted to do, really just for myself, to grow," she said.

Belo threw Celeste a curveball question and asked how her Tagalog is.

Cortesi responded softly, "Okay lang."

But the Filipino-Italian beauty queen quickly followed it up with the winning phrase, "Mahal ko kayo!"

Right back at you, Celeste!

3. She's training hard in every aspect of the competition

Celeste works out in the morning, does her Q&A trainings for the pageant in the evenings, and works on her parasela in between.

Given how graceful and confident she's become, it's hard to imagine the 5'8 ft. Filipino-Italian beauty having a hard time with heels.

But during the interview, she turned honest and revealed how she tripped on her very first training in heels.

"Honestly, my feet was so painful after 1 hour," Celeste began. "But I didn't want to tell Mama J because I was scared." So she pushed and pushed and walked on heels for three straight hours. And then she tripped.

"No matter how many times you fall, you always have to stand up with a smile," she said in an earlier video documenting her pasarela.

Even at the training level, Celeste is determined to become better every single day. 

"Every day, I always try to learn something new so then, I could apply it to the next session," she told Belo.

4. She is always presentable

Have you seen Celeste's recent photo shoots? Doesn't she exude such regal vibes? 

She isn't just naturally beautiful. In her interview with Belo, Celeste revealed how she also works to look even more presentable. For instance, she told the Doctor to the Stars how she plans on having at least two or three hairstyles for the pageant.

Sporting a high ponytail during the interview, Celeste explained how wearing such a hairstyle can actually be tricky, adding she's now learning about hairstyles at the moment, after learning how to do her own makeup.

5. She is kind to herself

During the interview, Celeste got real about having negative thoughts, shared how she's dealing with it, and admitted how difficult it all is.

"For me, it was really about being able to control your mind," she began.

According to Celeste, it's normal to "have so many doubts about ourselves and sometimes we face many challenges."

But she understands that it's exactly "in those times [that] you have to control your mind on how you can succeed and move forward."

Still she admits "it was really hard. Sometimes you just want to give up or sometimes, you just listen to the opinions of others. But that's the time you really have to block everything and focus on yourself."

According to Celeste, she has stopped reading social media comments because it was affecting her in a bad way.

"Sometimes you see so many good comments and then, you see one negative comment, and that's the one that really sticks in your head. So now, I've learned how to control this, how to control my mind and just have positive thoughts and be kind to myself as well. Nothing else matters but me, my team, and the people I love."

Belo asked her how she gets rid of negative thoughts, and Celeste said she just replaces them with positive ones.

"People tell me, 'You cannot do that. And I'm like no, 'I can do this. I'm going to win.' You know? You really have to do that because it's very powerful. Your mind can be so powerful. And of course, I pray so much, you know. I just pray, at the end of the day, winning or not, I will make my country proud."

Celeste will represent the Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant on January 15 (Manila time).

We're rooting for you, Celeste! — LA, GMA Integrated News