Beatrice Gomez reveals she had doubts before going to Miss Universe pageant in Israel

After making her country proud, Beatrice Gomez revealed that she had a lot of doubts and felt pressured before leaving for the Miss Universe pageant last year.

On Friday, Beatrice shared a video montage of her Miss Universe journey, from spending time with the other candidates to strutting down the stage.

"There were moments I thought I couldn't push through with the competition," the Miss Universe Philippines 2021 titleholder revealed.

"The external pressure and the pressure I put on myself grew as we got closer to the big day. I was anxious about flying out of the country, spending weeks at an unfamiliar place with people I don't know. Did I train enough? Will I make friends there? Am I cut out to be the queen a whole nation expects me to be?"

However, during those moments of doubt, Beatrice said she reminded herself why she was doing those things in the first place.

"It is my dream to bring honor to the country. I have people who believed and supported me from the beginning of my journey, and I want to make them proud. That's when I realized, as the quote said, that everything I want is on the other side of fear."

According to Beatrice, beauty pageants weren't just about the glitz and glamor but also strategizing and planning. When she arrived at the Miss Universe bubble, she said she had to create a sound game plan.

Aside from that, she also had to undergo the physical demands of the pageant.

"Early call times, rehearsals, bringing our stuff from point A to point B to point C. It was a challenging but beautiful and fulfilling experience. I like to think I channeled the glamorous gladiator in me AKA, Luigi, to make it to the end," she said.

"During the prelims, I remember being overwhelmed by the massive Filipino support inside the venue that I couldn't help but smile. That overwhelming love from our kababayans drove me to give my absolute best during the finals. I am glad that I leaped to the other side of fear. The rest is history."

Beatrice made history in September after becoming the first openly gay candidate to win the Miss Universe Philippines crown.

She settled for a Top 5 finish at the 70th Miss Universe coronation in December where India's Harnaaz Sandhu was crowned the new queen. – Kaela Malig/RC, GMA News