Pia Wurtzbach

Biography

Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach-Jauncey (Tagalog: [ˈpiː.ɐ ʔɐˈloːn.so ˈwəːɾts.bɐk ˈd͡ʒoːn.si]; German: [ˈvʊʁtsbax]; English: WURTS-ba(h)k; born September 24, 1989), formerly professionally known as Pia Romero, is a Filipino model, actress, and beauty queen best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2015. Previously, Wurtzbach won Binibining Pilipinas in 2015. She became the first Filipina to win in four decades.

== Early life and education == Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach was born in Stuttgart, Germany, to a German father and a Filipina mother, and has a sister. The family later moved to Northern Mindanao region in the Philippines, first in Iligan, then settled in Cagayan de Oro, where she attended kindergarten at Kong Hua School and primary school at Corpus Christi School. Her parents separated when she was 11 years old, and she became the family's main source of income by modeling and acting. After being raised in the Philippines, she spent several years in England. She finished her secondary education at ABS-CBN Distance Learning Center in Quezon City, Metro Manila, and studied culinary arts at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies in San Juan, Metro Manila. Wurtzbach speaks fluent Cebuano, English, and Tagalog. She also speaks basic German, which she described as "enough to get me a bratwurst".

== Acting career == Wurtzbach is a professional model, actress, host, and TV personality. She began acting at age four under the stage name Pia Romero. Managed by ABS-CBN Corporation's talent agency, Star Magic, she was included on the Star Circle Batch 11. Among her TV credits are the teen-oriented series K2BU, the concert variety program ASAP, the romance anthology Your Song, the sitcom show Bora, and the drama series Sa Piling Mo. She appeared in films such as Kung Ako Na Lang Sana (2003), All My Life (2004), and All About Love (2006). She went on to become a stylist, makeup artist and beauty writer for Philippine Daily Inquirers 2bU section.

== Pageantry ==

=== Early attempts at Binibining Pilipinas ===

Wurtzbach notably won the Miss Universe Philippines title on her third attempt. Prior to this, she first entered the Binibining Pilipinas pageant in 2013 where she was the first runner-up. She also won the Miss San Miguel Zero Fit and Sexy Body awards in the same year. She then entered the Binibining Pilipinas pageant again in 2014 and finished at top 15. Pundits believe that her performance at the question and answer portion of the pageant, where she was asked by judge Senator Sonny Angara in Tagalog, which she also answered in Tagalog, affected her overall performance. She won Miss Philippine Airlines and She's So Jag awards.

=== Binibining Pilipinas 2015 ===

On her third attempt for the title in 2015, Wurtzbach won Miss Universe Philippines, alongside the Miss Cream Silk awards and went on to compete in the Miss Universe 2015 Pageant. During the question and answer portion of the pageant she was asked by then-Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo: "Social media is now a very powerful tool on communication. Can you tell us your thoughts about internet censorship?" She answered: