Who is Bea Millan-Windorski, Miss Universe Philippines 2026?
Bea Millan-Windorski of La Union is Miss Universe Philippines 2026, and here are some things to know about the beauty queen.
A new Miss Universe Philippines (MUPH) queen has been crowned, and it was Bea Millan-Windorski of La Union. She is set to represent the country in the 75th Miss Universe pageant, which will be held in Puerto Rico in November. She takes over from Ahtisa Manalo, who achieved an impressive third runner-up finish in last year’s international pageant.
Who is Bea Millan-Windorski?
Bea has been among the frontrunners in the competition, breaking the ‘hakot curse’ that fans have observed in the national competition.
She was born on August 15, 2002, to a family of US immigrants. Bea traces her maternal roots to San Juan, La Union, where her grandparents, Alfredo and Marcela Millan, once lived before relocating to Nueva Vizcaya and eventually immigrating to the United States in search of better opportunities.
In the US, her mother met her American father, who comes from a family of Polish-German immigrants. She grew up in a predominantly white area of Milwaukee in Wisconsin.
She holds a double degree in international studies and history, graduating with comprehensive honors from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She specialized in Southeast Asian studies, where she learned the Filipino language and completed a thesis on Filipinos in the US Navy.
Bea was also a high school varsity dance team member and a ballet dancer in the Milwaukee Ballet School.Â
As a teenager, Bea discovered pageantry and came to see it as more than just a competition but also as a platform to share her passions and advocacies. In an interview with Rappler, Bea shared that she initially joined various local teen pageants in high school to earn scholarship money.
In winning the crown, Bea hopes to bring home the fifth Miss Universe title for the Philippines, following Catriona Gray (2018), Pia Wurtzbach (2015), Margarita Moran (1973), and Gloria Diaz (1969).
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