Miss Charm Philippines Cyrille Payumo. Image: Facebook/The Miss Philippines
When Krishnah Gravidez announced she was withdrawing from the Miss Charm pageant, many people assumed that her national successor Cyrille Payumo would take over from her for this year’s edition of the international pageant. But no official confirmation has been made about this, and the new queen also shared this recently.
Payumo, who inherited the Miss Charm Philippines title from Gravidez after the 2024 Miss Universe Philippines pageant last month, discussed this with scribes and online content creators at a media conference with her fellow titleholders under The Miss Philippines held at Empire Studios, at the Estancia Mall in Pasig City on June 10.
“Well, there’s no confirmation about it, they’re still deliberating. But they’re also telling me to be prepared, and that’s something that I’m working with the organization,” said Payumo, who was joined at the conference by Miss Supranational Philippines Tarah Valencia, Miss Eco International Philippines Alexie Brooks, and Miss Cosmo Philippines Ahtisa Manalo.
Gravidez was crowned Miss Charm Philippines after finishing in the Top 3 of the 2023 Miss Universe Philippines pageant in May last year, but earlier this month, she announced that she was turning over her crown to Payumo because the global tilt still had not scheduled another competition. The first edition of the Miss Charm pageant was held in February 2023, with the Philippines’ Annabelle McDonnell finishing as first runner-up.
When Payumo was crowned Miss Charm Philippines, she was scheduled for the global tilt’s 2025 edition because her predecessor Gravidez was still set to compete in this year’s edition of the international competition.
But Payumo said that she has already prepared herself for whatever the decision of the national organization may be. “I just want to continue what I started. This is what I’m going to say: I’m ready,” she declared.
The Kapampangan model is not new to international competitions. She is a pageant veteran who became the fifth Filipino woman to be crowned Miss Tourism International when she won the title in Malaysia in 2019.
“As long as I know that I’m with the right team, the right people, as long as I have the organization to guide me in this new chapter, of course I would love to represent [the Philippines] in Miss Charm, either this year or next year, I know that I am always ready,” Payumo continued.
Gravidez had enlisted for the 2024 Miss World Philippines pageant. The announcement that she will be the official representative of Baguio City in the national search came a day after she announced her withdrawal from the Miss Charm contest.