Nagkomento si Miss Australia Francesca Hung tungkol sa pagiging half-Australian ni Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray.
Ang ama ni Catriona na si Ian Gray ay isang Australian, habang Pilipina ang ina nitong si Mita Magnayon.
Inamin ni Francesca na sa simula pa lang ng international beauty pageant, si Catriona na ang “biggest threat.”
Sina Francesca at Catriona ay parehong kandidata sa katatapos lamang na Miss Universe 2018 pageant na ginanap sa Bangkok, Thailand, December 17, Lunes.
Via live feed, nakapanayam si Francesca ng Australian morning show na The Morning Show on 7, nitong December 18, Martes (Philippine time).
Sa kanyang nauna nang statement, sinabi ni Francesca na “biggest threat was Miss Philippines because she is half-Aussie.”
Tinanong naman si Francesca kung kamusta si Catriona sa likod ng camera.
Sagot ng Australian beauty queen, “She’s like any other Aussie girl. She grew up in Australia, so she has the same sort values and ideals.”
Dugtong pa ni Francesca, ipinanganak talaga si Catriona para maging Miss Universe.
“She was born for this role. She’s a well-brought up pageant girl…”
Tinawag pa niyang "amazing" si Catriona at karapat-dapat na maging spokesperson ng Miss Universe.
Samantala, maraming Pilipino ang hindi nagustuhan ang lumabas sa Australian tabloid na The Courier Mail Australia.
Front page ang pagkapanalo ni Catriona, pero inekis ang "Philippines" at pinalitan ng "Queensland."
Nakalagay sa report na si Catriona ay isinilang sa Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
Doon din daw nagsimula ng modelling career si Catriona sa edad na 14.
READ: Australian tabloid, inekisan ang Philippines bilang bayan ni Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray
DISCRIMINATION ISSUE
Sumagot din si Francesca sa akusasyong pinagtawanan umano nila si Miss Vietnam H’Hen Nie dahil hindi ito marunong magsalita ng English.
Sa isang Instagram video, makikita sina Miss USA Sarah Summers, Miss Colombia Valeria Morales, at Francesca na nagsasalita tungkol sa limitasyon sa wikang Ingles ni Miss Vietnam.
Ani Francesca, nangamba siya noon pa lang na maaapektuhan ng nangyaring kontrobersiya ang kanyang lugar sa pageant.
“In the days leading up to the final, I kinda processed in my head that it could perhaps have a negative affect on my placement.
“I’ll never know if it did or not, but I made top 20, and I’m happy with that.”
Nagkaroon daw siya ng panic attack dahil sa maraming pambabatikos na nakuha niya sa social media.
“I deleted my Instagram at one point, and I just didn’t look at anything.
“After a while I realized that I can’t change other people’s perspective of me.
“As long as I know my intentions were pure, people around me know me… They know that I would never say anything like that deliberately.
“So, I just had to be okay with that and let other people say what they wanna say.”