As the excitement rises, reigning Miss Earth 2018 Nguyen Phuong Khanh herself has arrived from Vietnam to support and promote Miss Bikini Philippines 2019. She is also set to be one of the judges during the pageant’s Coronation Night on Nov. 28 at the AFP Theater.
The Miss Bikini Philippines 2019 winner will receive P300,000 cash plus other prizes. Meanwhile, the first runner-up and second runner-up will get P200,000 cash/prizes and P100,000 cash/prizes, respectively.
“I’m very happy to be chosen as one of the judges because health and fitness are intrinsic to my personal advocacies. I want to inspire other girls to follow my journey— from being the fat girl that I was, to who I am now,” said the 24-year-old beauty queen who is the first Vietnamese to be crowned as Miss Earth.
What excites her—aside from talking about the ecosystem and the Philippines’ “turon”—is sharing anecdotes about keeping fit.
“I used to be chubby and had an eating disorder. Looking back, I got the raw deal because I treated myself badly. If I continued with my misguided eating habits and did not start exercising, I would have ruined my life,” she said.
Khanh started gym work and made healthy food choices. Until now, she works out six times weekly, does two-hour cardio and weightlifting exercises and does yoga to de-stress. She also tries to get at least 8 hours of sleep a day and maintains prudent food choices. It’s an advantage that she cooks and prepares her own meals with breakfast usually consisting of two boiled eggs and black coffee, while a typical lunch would be steamed chicken breast, and salad. She loves to snack on nuts, and at dinner, a light salad would be prepared.
When not modeling and doing TV guestings, Khanh (who has a degree in Marketing from the Curtin University in Singapore) is busy prepping for her fashion line that she will launch soon to increase sustainable opportunities for local suppliers in Vietnam.
It is Khanh’s third time to visit the country and considers the Philippines as her second home because of the deep warmth and kindness shown to her each time. Now, she hopes to reawaken confidence in Filipinas who have shared the same pain of being body-shamed.
To the future Miss Bikini Philippines 2019 aspirants, Khanh has this to say: “Mabuhay! I invite you girls to audition for Miss Bikini Philippines so that you understand the unique purpose and value of this pageant. It is not only about your beauty and your intelligence as well as health and fitness, it is about believing in yourself and treating yourself right.”