Beauty queen Herlene Budol is officially retiring from entering beauty pageants.
Herlene, who was crowned Miss Tourism Philippines 2023 at the recently held Miss Grand Philippines 2023, announced in an emotionally charged video that she is no longer competing in future pageants as she feels that her past efforts have not brought her to where she wants to be.
“Nakakatatlong pageant na ho ako pero hindi pa rin po pwede. Ibig sabihin, huwag na ho nating ipilit. Ibig sabihin po non, ako po si Herlene Nicole Budol na nagsasabi ‘sorry Pilipinas, this is my last pageant. Bye-bye! Herlene Nicole Budol, I’m signing off,” she said in a video she posted on her official Instagram page before breaking down in tears.
She clarified that she isn’t acting and that she had only wanted to have a shot at achieving her dreams.
“Nasasaktan lang po ako kasi … Nagsusubok lang po ako na abutin yung mga pangarap ko na magkaroon po ako ng crown at marepresent ko po yung Pilipinas pero di ko po pala kaya siguro kaya,” she said.
She then apologized and thanked her supporters for cheering her on all this time.
“Kaya humihingi po ako ng sorry sa inyong lahat. Sa lahat po ng mga taong sumusuporta po sa akin, thank you so much po. Kayo po yung dahilan kung ba’t po ako nandito.”
To conclude, she said: “Titigil na po ako, hindi ko na po ipipilit yung sarili ko.”
On the post itself, Herlene wrote in the caption that she will just see where fate takes her from now on.
“Kung saan man po ako dalhin ng tadhana ng Philippines yun napo Ang last pageant ko,” she penned. “Sa pageant lang susuko Hindi Sa buhay.”
Watch the full video below:
View this post on Instagram
Herlene won second runner-up at Binibining Pilipinas 2022 and was supposed to compete in the Miss Planet International in Uganda last year. She withdrew and the competition was eventually canceled due to multiple controversies.
(ALSO READ: Herlene Budol Withdraws From Miss Planet International 2022)
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