Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel opens up after her historic win

LOS ANGELES — #TheFutureIsFemale #NolaTakesNOLA

These were the hashtags that newly crowned Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Nola Gabriel added to her Instagram photo of her donning her national costume for the 71st Miss Universe pageant held for the first time in New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA).

The prophetic hashtag (of R'Bonney Nola taking NOLA) was simply apt.

The talented and eloquent 28-year-old sustainable fashion designer from Bayou City, Texas bested 82 other candidates from all over the world.

She is not only the first Filipino-American to win the title of Miss Universe but is also the first Miss USA to win the coveted crown in 10 years. Olivia Culpo won it in 2012.

Proud of her Filipino roots, R'Bonney wowed the media backstage as she also answered some questions in Tagalog.

She also chose Filipino fashion designers to collaborate with and make her "Woman on the Moon" national costume as well as her preliminary "Viva Magenta" gown and her final "Phenomenal Queen" black gown.

We were able to interview the newly-crowned queen of the universe by Zoom while she was in New York.

Donning her Miss Universe 2022 sash but minus her $5.5 million crown, R'Bonney still exuded the same warmth and confidence when we first interviewed her in person as a newly-crowned Miss USA.

Below is our exclusive interview.

Congratulations R'Bonney! Talk about your being the first Filipino American to wear the crown. And how does it feel to be representing two cultures?

It's just an incredible honor. My heart is filled with joy to not only represent my culture and my country of America, but also my father's culture of the Philippines. I feel blessed to have two beautiful dynamic cultures that have really taught me to be open-minded. It's great, because I can resonate with two different countries, as well. I just feel so much pride and support from both countries, so I'm very thankful for that.

Photo courtesy of Miss Universe

Both your parents were at the pageant. Your dad already claimed that you're going to win that night. Talk about the confidence of your father and how much support you got from both your parents.

Yes, my father was extremely confident. After I won Miss USA, I had three months to compete for Miss Universe. My dad was so sure, every time I would see him, that he would say, "You are going to win Miss Universe."

Even on days when I was stressed out or I wasn't sure if I was going to get everything together, my dad would still have that confidence. It's just amazing to see that; because he just believed no matter what.

He had this little trick where if he would find five pennies face up, with the actual face on like a sidewalk or anywhere, he believed if he found five that it was his sign that I would win Miss Universe. It was so random, but everywhere he was looking for pennies, he actually found five pennies throughout that three months. To him, that was the sign that I would win Miss Universe. Thankfully, it actually happened.

How did you celebrate with your parents? What did your brothers tell you after they said congratulations to you?

When I first saw my parents, I gave them a hug. It was just so nice to meet them on stage after the win. My brothers, I did the same thing. They congratulated me. I honestly don't remember too much of what they said, because so much happened so fast. But I think it was something along the lines of, "You did it," or, "I'm so proud of you." And my three older brothers were just beaming with pride and joy. I'm their little sister and their only sister, so they're just really happy about this time in my life.

Both your preliminary and final gowns were also amazing and unique. And you collaborated with Rian Fernandez, a Filipino designer. Talk about your collaboration with him.

So with Rian, I had worked with him for my Miss Texas and Miss USA gowns, so it felt only right to go with him all the way to Miss Universe.

For preliminaries, I was really loving the color magenta fuchsia. I really loved wearing it these past couple of months. So I told Rian, "I want to do a pop of color that's a little bit unique and I want to take a risk." I knew I wanted some sort of shawl to reveal the moment. I thought it was all about performance for prelims, and being memorable and entertaining. I really wanted to give the audience a show, and that was my goal.

With the colors for prelims, I wanted to tie in Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and how it's very colorful when you think about all the beads in the parades. So that was really the intention for prelims.

And then finals, I wanted to do something completely different. I wanted to go all black; because I don't think a lot of girls have won wearing black. So, I said, let me do something bold, strong, and different, and take a risk. I really loved how he did the glass beaded fringe on the bottom; because I was thinking about movement on stage. So, I'm really happy with how it all came out. I was a little bit unsure when I saw the gowns. Then I finally tried them on in person, and they really grew on me.

Photo courtesy of Miss Universe

But when we were backstage, I saw also patches of blue on your gown. At the beginning, it was all black, but then I saw some blue. Did you just add that at the last minute? How did that happen?

That's right. So, after I saw that the "Force for Good" crown had a lot of blue in it, that's when I contacted Rian, and I was like, "Hey, let's add some blue up on top," because I wanted it to match with the crown.

Talk about your cape. What was your inspiration for the cape and the national costume? How was it made in the Philippines?

My national costume was made by Patrick Isorena. He also made my costume for Miss USA, and the name of it is "Woman on the Moon," because I wanted to celebrate America's achievement of sending the first human to step foot on the moon.

Actually, in my hometown of Houston, there's the NASA Space Center. Currently, they're working on sending the first female to the moon. So I really wanted to celebrate that achievement and how we are continuing to progress and let women just break down barriers and do things for the first time. So, I wanted to support that. I really wanted to go big for this costume. I wanted a large moon. I just really wanted to go for it. So it was definitely pretty heavy (33 lbs.), but I love the way he took the vision and made it come to life.

What were you thinking when your name was called in the last batch in the top 16?

It's a nail-biter; because the slots get smaller and smaller. I'm thinking, oh, there are only three girls left, and there's still a lot of girls around me that I think could be in the top 16. Then it just gets more and more stressful. You're just hoping and praying that they call my name. I think I was number 15, so I was the second to the last one called. When they called me I was just so thankful.

Then you had to go game on, run in the back, change really quick to a swimsuit, and then back at it. Just collect yourself right before you go out on stage. Then remember your routine, remember all your points and your facial expressions, and just focus and get the job done.

Photo courtesy of Miss Universe

Then it was just the two of you with Miss Venezuela. You seemed like you didn't hear your name called. Talk about that moment when it's just the two of you on stage.

The crowd was so loud, for one. I wasn't sure if I heard my name right. Then I was talking to myself in my head. I was saying, "If this is meant for me, please let it be for me. Please let me do good with this title."

Then when they actually called my name, I wasn't sure. I was like, is it really me? Did I hear that right? I was just in such shock and disbelief that it took a little bit for me to realize that I was the winner.

A lot of young Filipina American girls are already looking up to you as their model. What kind of advice would you give to them?

My advice would be to embrace your roots, embrace who you are, and wear that very proudly. I think our culture is what makes us special, different and unique.

When I was a little girl, being different wasn't always the cool thing to do. But now I feel like it's so amazing, and it's what makes me beautiful.

So, I would love to tell little girls to really, really know where they come from, know their culture, and be very proud of that. There's nothing wrong with being different. If anything, that's a blessing.

You are in New York right now with Anne of JKN (the new owner of Miss Universe) and also Olivia Quido. Talk about these two amazing women you're with and what inspires you about them.

I've been able to spend a little bit of time with them, not as much as I'd like to because they've been very busy. But I look up to both of them as businesswomen because they're self-made, and they've made a lot of great decisions in their life to get to the point that they're at. So I'm really looking forward to learning more about them as a businesswoman myself, who is trying to grow my own clothing brand R'Bonney Nola.

This year, I told them, any advice, I would love to hear it. I'd love to study how they've gotten to the point that they're at.

Now that you're Miss Universe and you'll be traveling around the world, how much do you look forward to this experience, and what countries do you look forward to seeing, and why?

I look forward to it every day. I think this is going to be a rollercoaster with lots of ups and downs, and it's going to be very fast. So I want to take it all in and definitely always stay grounded and be thankful; because this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I'm not sure of all the countries I get to go to, but right now I know I'm going to Indonesia and Thailand soon, which I love in Asia. I love Southeast Asia.

I'm hoping to visit South America; because I've actually never been there.

So anywhere I go, if I have or haven't been there, I know it's going to be a great experience to hopefully connect with the culture, do some advocacy work, hopefully, meet with different artisans and see what's going on in that fashion industry, and hopefully make a change or impact there.

Are you also having any future plans to visit the Philippines? What do you plan to do there?

I don't want to say a hundred percent, but I'm pretty sure I will be able to visit the Philippines, and hopefully soon.

There's so much I want to do there and have friends, family, and people that I would love to connect with there. So hopefully soon.

Aside from promoting sustainable fashion design, what other platforms do you hope to promote awareness of and support?

Well, I know that the Miss Universe organization always works with Best Buddies and Smile Train, and I've fortunately been able to work with them as Miss USA these last three months. So, continuing to work with that, as well as sewing workshops.

I actually had somebody from the Philippines invite me to their school to teach at a workshop. That's something I've been doing this past year, whether that's just showing students how to sew, or how to get an idea and make it into a reality.

Or I've been talking lately about the importance of accepting failure and using that to our advantage. So any number of those things I would love to have the opportunity to share more as I travel.

So, have you tasted your favorite halo-halo and ensaymada lately?

Halo-halo, not yet. But I actually had about three different ensaymadas this morning, and they were delicious.

I wish you more luck and success. And we're looking forward to interviewing you again next time.

Oh, I look forward to it. Thank you for having me, and I hope to see you in the Philippines.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News