Catriona Gray, the 24-year-old model and singer made her country proud as she is the fourth representative from Philippines that won Miss Universe. She beat out 93 other contestants including Miss South Africa Tamaryn Green, who was the runner-up, and second runner-up Miss Venezuela Sthefany Gutierrez. 

Miss Gray who grew up in Australia, earned her degree in music theory from Boston’s Berklee School of Music. When she was 13 years old, her mother said she’d dreamt the pageant queen had won the Miss Universe pageant in a red dress.

Source: Catriona Gray Facebook

Her win earned praise from the president of the Philippines himself, Rodrigo Duterte.

“Ms. Gray truly made the entire Philippines proud when she sashayed on the global stage and showcased the genuine qualities defining a Filipina beauty: confidence, grace, intelligence and strength in the face of tough challenges,” Duterte said in a statement.

“In her success, Miss Philippines has shown to the world that women in our country have the ability to turn dreams into reality through passion, diligence, determination and hard work.”

More support also comes from the family and her mother’s home province of Albay, a hero’s welcome awaits the beauty queen.

“The entire Albay is happy and proud of her achievement as proud she is of her roots. I worked with Catriona in her previous quests and she was excited about her role as tourism champion for Albay,” the former Albay governor recalled.

Messages of congratulations and praises for Catriona Gray flowed from all over the country. Even further some people said that this accomplishments is the best Christmas gift to be thankful this year.

Source: philstar.com, huffingtonpost.com.