Pauline Amelinckx asks fans reacting to Miss Supranational 2023 results to ‘be kind and not add hate’
MANILA, Philippines – Three weeks after coronation night, Miss Supranational 2023 1st runner-up Pauline Amelinckx shared that she has already “found pride and peace” with the results of the pageant, and hoped that her supporters could do the same.
Following her homecoming parade in Bohol, the beauty queen took to social media to reflect on her recent feat.
“Victory is sweeter when I get to share it with them,” she wrote in an Instagram post featuring her and her parents on Friday, August 4.
“Papa taught me discipline and dedication to one’s self. Mama taught me kindness. And it’s about kindness that I wanna talk about now.”
Pauline then came to the defense of the pageant’s winner, Ecuador’s Andrea Aguilera, after the latter was met with backlash following her crowning moment.
“Recently I heard about all the hate that Andrea has received. I know very well [what] it feels like to receive [private messages] or even emails with hurtful messages. But no one deserves to go through that,” she said.
The 27-year-old host and model continued that she personally saw “Andrea’s dedication and passion to be her best for Ecuador” during the competition.
This, she explained, is why she wanted to talk about the online vitriol in the pageant community.
“I will never tell you how to act or how to feel, but I can only hope that we can always choose to be kind and not add to the hate already present in our world,” she wrote.
Pauline went on that each candidate in the competition exerted all their effort “to be the best representation of the country and its people we bring forth [sic].”
She then stressed that bringing the Philippines back to Top 2 placing in the pageant is already a win in itself.
“This journey has taught me that even when we didn’t achieve what we set our minds to, we could have still achieved so many other things, things we didn’t expect or prayed for but which still hold so much meaning and value if we allow ourselves to see that,” she added.
She ended her post by saying that she still believes that pageantry “is a platform that brings people together, and it’s by uniting that we can make the greatest change.”
Andrea then commented on Pauline’s post, saying that she’s so glad to have her as her [Supranational] sister.
“Thank you for being an inspiration for me and for the world. [I love you,]” Andrea wrote.
Pauline had earlier opened up about her win, saying that it was still an achievement worth celebrating.
“It felt so surreal to go through all the challenges and ups and downs of this journey and still have been able to make it this far,” she said then.
While the Miss Supranational 2023 pageant is Pauline’s first international stint, she has competed in three national pageants in the past four years. For the Miss Universe 2020, 2022, and 2023 editions, Pauline had always landed as runner-up. – Rappler.com