Michelle Dee on viral #PorDee tandem with Anntonia Porsild: 'Mission accomplished'

From rivals to the most iconic duo of this year’s Miss Universe pageant, Michelle Dee and Thailand’s Anntonia Porsild's friendship won hearts all over the world.

In a press conference on Thursday, Michelle expressed delight over how she and Anntonia progressed from being pitted against each other to being celebrated together.

Michelle shared that they weren't able to spend time together in the beginning.

“Anntonia and I, we weren’t able to converse so much during the start of the competition because we didn’t have a chance [since] we were assigned to different areas,” she said.

She added that the intention of her first ever photo with the Thai beauty queen was to show the world — or the universe, rather — that there was no bad blood between them, contrary to several content circulating online during the height of the pageant.

“Medyo nagka-away away na ‘yung fans,” Michelle said.

“And our intention with our very first photo was really to show na bati kami. If kaming dalawa bati, then our fans really should unite as well or at least be more respectful towards each other,” she added.

Michelle further said that Filipinos and Thais are the most vocal pageant fans, so uniting them was a win for her and Anntonia. She described it as "mission accomplished."

“To be able to unite and show a good example in terms of loving and respecting everyone around, I think we have accomplished that because the Philippines and Thailand have never felt closer, the fans, the supporters, we really feel the love,” Michelle said.

After the coronation night of the Miss Universe in El Salvador earlier this month, the hashtag #PorDee has been trending, with a generous amount of content of Michelle and Anntonia’s cute moments together.

Michelle settled for a Top 10 finish on Miss Universe, while Anntonia placed 1st runner-up. —JCB, GMA Integrated News