Mariel de Leon wants to bury the hatchet with the fans of Miss Universe Philippines 2018 Catriona Gray.
Her tiff with Catriona's fans arose in March when she sat as one of the mentors for the Binibining Pilipinas 2018 candidates.
In her evaluation of Catriona, Mariel said she sounded “scripted.”
This angered Catriona’s fans and started a slew of bashing directed at Mariel in social media.
“I didn’t mean to offend anyone naman and I’m sorry if I did,” she said, addressing Catriona's fans during her exclusive interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal).
“We come from a good place and we all admire Catriona for her strength and how far she’s come in life, so I think that’s what we have [to do], just lifting Catriona up, especially now she’s Miss Universe [Philippines].”
Mariel continued, “I didn’t say anything wrong. I didn’t do anything wrong.
“Even Catriona said I didn’t do anything wrong. All the other Binibinis, they also agreed.
"It was cut in a different way kasi all the other girls, all the 40 Binibinis [candidates] had all the [then reigning] queens said something about them."
Apart from Catriona, Bb. Pilipinas-Intercontinental 2017 Katarina Rodriguez and Bb. Pilipinas-Grand International 2017 Elizabeth Clenci had said Mariel's statement was taken out of context and pleaded to stop the bashing.
“I think it was just misunderstood,” Mariel said about her comment.
The Bb. Pilipinas-International 2017 said that her comment was intended to encourage Catriona as a candidate.
“I don’t think it was a bad thing to say.
"We were there as judges, to help them grow and to help them learn.
"So, we were just trying to help them and I think people thought about it in a different way which is unfortunate,” Mariel lamented.
ROOTING FOR CATRIONA. Meanwhile, Mariel is confident that Catriona has a big chance of winning in the next Miss Universe pageant.
Both Mariel and Catriona trained at the same time under Aces & Queens.
“I think she has the X-factor when she goes there. And she’s really good at presenting herself and I think that’s what Miss Universe is about,” beamed Mariel.