Vickie Rushton mourns end of pageant dreams: 'I never imagined this journey would end this way'

Vickie Rushton took to Instagram to mourn the end of her pageant journey.

In an emotional post, the actress admitted that she was not "as okay" as she thought after fully realizing that she could no longer try to compete for a crown.

"As much as I don’t want to, I need to close this chapter in my life," she wrote. "I thought I was okay but today I realized that I might not be as ok as i thought I was. It finally sunk in that I am no longer part of it."

"Today, I found myself crying because I am still not ready to let go of this dream but I know I have to and I know God has better plans. I never imagined this journey would end this way but maybe it’s time to dream a new dream," she added.

Vickie joined the Binibining Pilipinas pageant for the third time last year, after missing the crown in 2018 and 2019.

The Miss International pageant increased the maximum age from 27 to 28 in 2019. Vickie, who at the time was turning 28, took it as a sign to try again.

However, she withdrew her application when the coronavirus pandemic delayed the 2020 pageants, including Binibining Pilipinas. She turned 29 just this May.

Vicki was the first runner-up in the 2018 Binibining Pilipinas, and finished in the Top 15 in the 2019 Binibining Pilipinas. —JCB, GMA News