For Gelli, becoming...

PAGE 13 tough it was for her in the beginning that their home became an empty nest after their sons moved abroad.

“It was hard at first na ‘yung gumising kami na wala na sila Julio at Wacky, yun ang mahirap and every time we leave Canada or every time they leave the Philippines after a vacation, it’s drama. There’s really pain in my heart every time it happens. It’s not easy.”

On the same video, Ariel asked his wife, “How do you see us spending our life together for the next 20, 30 years? What is your ultimate goal as we live the next few decades together?”

Gelli blushed some more and answered, “I think I just see us enjoying each other’s company, watching our children grow together, traveling more and just living life to the fullest.”

Yllana didn’t dream of becoming a beauty queen but then the pandemic happened.

“It wasn’t actually my dream. But the pandemic happened and I felt like I was getting stuck at an impasse and I wasn’t really progressing as a person. Parang I told myself, there’s really something more than I can do.

“So, I went back to my core — I have been practicing the zero-waste and sustainable lifestyle ever since I was in high school — so I was scrolling through Facebook one day and I saw the Miss Earth Philippines 2021 poster looking for their queens. Sabi ko, I feel like it’s my sign and I’m going to join this one,” said the second of three kids and the first title-holder in her family.

Though a pageant favorite, she failed in her first bid at the Miss Earth Philippines crown. Same thing happened in her second pageant, Binibining Pilipinas 2022, which landed her in the Top 12.

Last month, she finally won in her third pageant try and second attempt at the Miss Earth Philippines crown.

Asked about the most challenging part throughout her entire pageant experience, Yllana said, “I feel like every beauty queen would agree to this one that the greatest challenge is to really put ourselves out there, the best and perfect version of ourselves. Pero kasi ako, what I do is I always go back to my core values, I don’t mind what other

There have been showbiz offers, but nothing is definite yet. But she has been allowed by Carousel Productions, founder and organizer of Miss Earth and Miss Earth Philippines, to accept projects, if ever, within the duration of her reign. And if given the chance in the future, she wishes to co-host a show that’s similar to Dingdong Dantes’ Amazing Earth because again, it’s in line with her passion.

She also said she’d like to “do romcoms and be paired up (laughs).”

For the meantime, Yllana is preparing for the Miss Earth international competition in Vietnam in December. Immediately after she took home the title last April, she called in her team to help her “strategize” and “come up with a gameplan” alongside Miss Earth Philippines.

“We’re kind of pressured but in a good way. It’s overwhelming, yes, but in a very positive way because we really gave it our all during the Miss Philippines Earth 2023. So we were talking about how we are going to supersede this one, how we are going to bring more to the table since we already did our best.

“So we came up with an amazing game plan. As much as I’d like to talk to you more about it, I have to keep a tight lip on it. So when we compete in Vietnam, people will be surprised.”

“Miss Earth Philippines 2023 is going to be my last Philippine pageant,” Yllana also declared even though her age would still make her qualified for other pageants.

“I’m really going to do my best to hopefully bring back the fifth Miss Earth crown for the Philippines.” n

But knowing that their children are safe and with Ariel’s mom guiding them in Canada, Gelli has nothing to be worried about.

Meanwhile, Gelli was surprised during her guesting on Fast Talk with Boy Abunda a few days ago when her husband appeared in a video message. He expressed on national TV how he loves his wife so much which made Gelli blush.

To have her own family is what she wanted and looked forward to since she was a little girl.

“I wanted to be a mom. I wanted to be a wife. That was clear to me. And it happened, talagang namanifest ko siya.”

“What I am trying to manifest now is for whatever happiness we have right now in the family, to just continue on for the rest of our lives.” n