Half-Pinay transgender queen recreates childhood look in New Zealand pageant

Half-Filipina beauty queen Arielle Keil is making history as the first transgender woman to represent New Zealand in the upcoming Miss Intercontinental pageant.

The Auckland-raised 26-year-old was crowned Miss New Zealand Intercontinental last month after wowing the judges in a stunning green terno at the preliminaries.

In an exclusive interview with GMA News Online on Thursday, Ari revealed that she and the designer Kerry Trent Ranginui actually recreated her childhood barong look!

 

 

 

 

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Very proud of my friend Ari for winning Miss Intercontinental New Zealand 2020. It was fun working on this design together for her to wear when the Judges met her for the first time. Congratulations on taking the crown @arielle.keil

A post shared by Kerry Trent Ranginui (@kerrytrentranginui) on

Oct 18, 2020 at 10:37pm PDT

Arielle Keil was born in Matina, Davao City but grew up in Auckland, New Zealand.

The proud transgender beauty queen, who has a bachelor's degree in fashion design and is currently studying creative advertising, has fought a lot of battles with discrimination and prejudice in her life.

But through hard work and dedication, Ari is now living the dream and gearing up to make New Zealand and her Pinoy roots proud at the upcoming Miss Intercontinental competition. —JCB, GMA News