Dayanara talks about tough life before becoming Miss Universe

Dayanara Torres got the whole world’s admiration for her beauty when she won the prestigious Miss Universe title in 1993 and attained global fame, but the life she lived prior to her win was far from perfect.

In her recent guesting on ABS-CBN’s morning TV talk show “Magandang Buhay,” the former beauty queen did not hold back her tears as she shared how hard life was for her and her family when she was growing up.

“I was only 17 when I was discovered and I just finished high school and I was already enrolled in a university to start a career in the industry (dentistry) and a little something happened and plans had to change,” she said.

She had wanted to be an orthodontist as she herself had tooth problems.

“My dream was to become an orthodontist kasi I had a problem with my teeth, I had back tooth? Is it? I had braces for eight years. It wasn’t supposed to be eight years, it was just supposed to be three and a half but my two older brothers and myself, we all had it about the same time so sometimes we will go to the appointments and we won’t have money to pay for the next, so months passed and that’s how we got extended,” she said.

The Puerto Rican beauty teared up as she reminisced about her life growing up.

“I always loved beauty pageants, I always watched the show but never really thought that it would be possible. Situation in my family was tough,” she said, and then became teary-eyed.

Torres said her life completely changed when somebody discovered her.

“It was a dream come true, when somebody saw me, it was like a miracle coz if that didn’t happen, I don’t think my family would be able to put me through that kind of experience, although they wanted to; but they could not afford it,” she said.

Change since Miss Universe 

The 42-year-old stunner said her life completely turned around when she won Miss Universe. “I lived in the mountains in Toa Alta (Puerto Rico), a beautiful rural area, and from that to a completely different lifestyle and experience and even traveling, you know, never traveled before, and it gave me everything,” she said.

She credited the Philippines for partly making her who she is today.

“I won in Mexico City but when I finished, it could have been in any other country, I was just lucky that it was here,” she emotionally shared.

“All the opportunities, being in show business, I could have never imagined my life ending up in the Philippines; it was pretty much a miracle,” she continued.

Torres is now officially again a part of Manila Genesis Entertainment, the talent agency that handled her career when she lived in the country in the ’90s. She is full set on having show-biz commitments in the Philippines again, although no projects have been divulged yet.

“I’ll be coming back and forth,” she said.