Anne Jakrajutatip and Celeste Cortesi. Image: screengrab from facebook/Olivia Quido-Co, Instagram/@gp10 via @celeste_cortesi
Miss Universe Organization (MUO) owner Anne Jakrajutatip confessed that she was “surprised but not shocked” after frontrunners including Philippine bet Celeste Cortesi fell short of advancing to the 2022 pageant’s Top 16.
Jakrajutatip spoke about this in a conversation with Filipino entrepreneur Olivia Quido, as seen in the latter’s Facebook page on Wednesday, Jan. 18. The subject was brought up after Quido, a member of the pageant’s selection committee, stated how Filipino fans were surprised over Cortesi’s non-inclusion in the Top 16.
“I’m surprised also — Thailand… I sit down and I thought, ‘Goodness heavens, what is happening here?'” she said, also mentioning several other frontrunners including Italy, Mexico and Honduras who did not make the cut.
“I counted myself, like 15 or 20 of them that used to be in the poll internationally — everyone just ripped off the poll,” she continued. “Everything just went upside down.”
The new MUO owner then stressed that while she was surprised by the results, she was “not shocked” because the pageant had “good curriculum” in terms of the criteria for judging. Jakrajutatip also pointed out how every candidate should be given “equal chance” in the pageant.
“I’m surprised but I’m not shocked by the quality or by the high standard, benchmark of the judges. I think we had a good curriculum,” she stated. “That’s why I’m not shocked but I’m surprised because usually they get in, but it’s good news for a lot of other countries. Because they usually say, ‘Oh right, Top 16 is always the same.'”
During the interview, Jakrajutatip addressed accusations that the competition was “rigged and set up,” saying she didn’t need to “jeopardize” herself by doing such. She then asked pageant fans to respect the results, most especially the Miss Universe 2022 titleholder R’Bonney Gabriel who “did a great job” in the competition.
Gabriel, the Filipino-American delegate from the US, was proclaimed the winner at the coronation night held in New Orleans, Louisiana, last Jan. 14. /ra