Reigning Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach has defended actress Jessy Mendiola after she was bashed for the latter’s comment that she beat the international beauty queen for the “sexiest” title.
“What I saw was a girl who was just really ecstatic to be given that recognition. Nothing wrong with that.
Congratulations, Jessy!” said Wurtzbach on Twitter.
Mendiola, 23, was named sexiest woman in the Philippines for 2016 in a poll conducted by FHM Philippines magazine.
Wurtzbach placed No. 15 in the same online survey.
In a video that went viral, Mendiola, 21, told the cheering crowd at the FHM party: “I think that’s what people like about me. I have a different type of body from the usual sexy and I am here to prove that everyone can be sexy;
“Talo ko pa si Pia Wurtzbach, ‘di ba? Nakakaloka iyong ganito. Sobrang overwhelming. Kung siya ay confidently beautiful with a heart, tayo ay confidently sexy with a heart,” said Mendiola, during the FHM Victory Party at the Valkyrie in Taguig City last July 26.
“I’m just really happy na nandito ako tonight. It feels surreal and its feels so nice to be called the ‘Sexiest Woman in the Philippines.’ So thank you very much,” the actress said.
Mendiola was seen in the Kapamilya teleserye “You’re My Home” with JC de Vera, Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta recently. She regularly appears in the Kapamilya gag show “Banana Sundae.”
The actress is romantically linked to actor-television host Lucky Manzano, son of actress- Congresswoman Vilma Santos-Recto and Edu Manzano.
But Mendiola has been bashed by some netizens who pointed her as the cause of the breakup between Manzano and Angel Locsin. She denied being the third party in the Manzano-Locsin split.
Mendiola then has made her Instagram account private.