Lea Salonga defends Jessy Mendiola: Sexy has nothing to do with the outer shell

Negative comments about Jessy Mendiola continue to circulate following her being declared the "Nation's Sexiest" by FHM Philippines, stoked further by her remark during a victory party at the Valkyrie Nightclub.

Late Saturday night, Lea Salonga chipped in to defend the actress.

"For the record, I think Jessy Mendiola is one of the sexiest people I've ever cast my eyes on.

"It has less to do with her physique (which, by the way, is nothing to sneeze at) and more to do with how she carries herself. She could gain 20 pounds right now and my opinion of her wouldn't change," Salonga wrote on her personal Facebook account.

She added, "Sexy has nothing to do with the outer shell and all to do with what's in you."

Salonga further explained that you could look like a Victoria's Secret model, but have no appeal. She then repeated the adage that beauty, or in this case, sexy is in the eye of the beholder and disagreements do not invalidate a dissenting opinion.

Mendiola earned the ire of some people after a video of her victory speech went viral.

"Talo ko pa si Pia Wurtzbach!" Mendiola was documented saying. Her sense of humor rubbed a number of people the wrong way and it prompted Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach to issue a statement.

"What I saw was a girl who was just really ecstatic to be given that recognition," Wurtzbach wrote in a tweet on Friday. "Nothing wrong with that. Congratulations, Jessy!" — Aya Tantiangco/BM, GMA News