The pageant scene is very much alive in the Philippines, and even celebrities have expressed intentions of one day pursuing their dreams of representing the country as a beauty queen, especially since Miss Universe Philippines revoked the height requirement for future beauty queen aspirants. Another TV personality joining the club is Rita Gaviola, more popularly known as Badjao Girl and a former Pinoy Big Brother housemate.
Rita first became a trending topic on social media in 2016 when a photo of her captured by Topher Quinto Burgos went viral and caught the attention of netizens. That same year, 13-year-old Rita joined Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky Season 7 as a teen housemate and claimed the moniker "The Badjao Girl of Lucena."
Now 18, Rita recently shared her interest in joining the famed Miss Universe pageant through an Instagram post. "Soon sasali na tayo sa miss u," her caption reads, along with a photo of her all glammed up in a bold makeup look.
Rita received positive response from netizens in the comments section, many of whom rooted for her as a potential candidate who owned the "gandang Filipina" look and encouraged her to start training in beauty pageant camps.
After exiting Bahay ni Kuya, Rita kept it low-key for a while in the showbiz scene. In 2019, she made an appearance in the GMA teleserye Sahaya starring Bianca Umali, Miguel Tanfelix, and Migo Adecer. She also celebrated her debut in 2021 with a grand theme to match. In May, Rita started her own YouTube channel where she currently has around 48,000 subscribers.
Curious as to what Rita would look like with a crown? She teased fans with her potential through a new selfie:
From The Candy Bulletin Community
