Manhunt International winner Lochian Carey of Australia (center) holds his trophy, together with (from left) fifth place Cas Hagman of the Netherlands, second place Joshua De Sequera of the Philippines, third place Elijah Van Zanten of the USA, and Tranh Manh Kien of Vietnam. (Photo by ARMIN P. ADINA / Contributor)
MANILA, Philippines — Lochian Carey of Australia is the winner of the 2022 Manhunt International contest staged at The Fountain at Okada Manila in Parañaque City on Saturday, Oct. 1, and is poised to become the next male supermodel after the global tilt’s pivot to fashion this year.
He bested 33 other aspirants in the international contest’s 21st edition, which was staged after a break in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 20th edition was held in February 2020, also in Manila, just before the world ground to a halt due to a global health crisis.
Paul Luzineau of the Netherlands won in 2020.
The contest scrapped the national costume competition this year, an event that is a staple in global pageants, and held a high fashion segment in its stead. Manhunt International Executive President Rosko Dickinson told the Inquirer in an earlier interview that the contest’s pivot to fashion indicates its transition to modeling.
“We are not a pageant,” he declared.
Manhunt International winner Lochian Carey of Australia. (Photo by ARMIN P. ADINA / Contributor)
The international tilt’s winners and former contestants since its establishment in 1993 have each embarked on their respective modeling careers in their own countries, with some of them penetrating the global fashion scene. And this, Dickinson said, makes their decision to “embrace fashion and modeling” all the more logical.
He, however, clarified that the Manhunt International organization will not function as a modeling agency. But he hopes the winners will score jobs with the help of their accomplishment in the global competition.
Finishing second to Carey is Joshua De Sequera of the Philippines, son of Filipino supermodel and beauty queen Marina Benipayo.
June Macasaet remains to be the lone Filipino winner in the 29-year-old competition. He snagged the title in 2012 in the contest held in Bangkok, besting 52 other aspirants.
Completing the winners’ circle are third place Elijah Van Zanten, fourth place Tranh Manh Kien of Vietnam, and fifth place Cas Hagman of the Netherlands.
This is the third time that the Philippines has hosted the Manhunt International competition. Aside from the 20th and 21st editions, the country welcomed the global tilt in 1999 for its sixth installment.
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