Maureen Montagne. Image from Instagram / @feliciano.mj
Multi-titled beauty queen Maureen Montagne has been on many fans’ “Wish Miss,” a list of possible Miss Universe Philippines candidates, but those eagerly awaiting her return to pageantry will have to wait another year.
The American-Filipino model shut down talk that she will make another shot at a national title via the 2025 MUPH pageant, saying she has modeling contracts that she needed to prioritize.
“Hello everyone, I would like to thank you all for your support within the pageantry community. I would like to formally announce I will not be competing in MUPh [praying hands emoji][red heart emoji],” Montagne said on her Instagram Stories.
“I have international modeling contracts I cannot break,” added the last Filipino woman, so far, to be crowned The Miss Globe winner.
Image: Screenshot of Maureen Montagne’s IG Stories
Montagne broke into the Philippine pageant scene through the 2013 Mutya ng Pilipinas contest as the delegate from the Filipino community in Arizona. She finished as first runner-up in the national contest.
She moved back to the United States and joined the 2015 Miss Arizona USA pageant, paving the way for her participation in the Miss USA pageant where she advanced to the semifinals.
In 2017, she took part in the Miss World United States pageant, and finished second in the competition.
Montagne returned to the Philippines in the succeeding year to try another shot at competing in the Miss World pageant, but she was instead crowned as the country’s representative to the 2019 Miss Eco International contest.
Montagne had a strong finish in her first global competition, and was proclaimed as first runner-up in the Miss Eco International pageant in Egypt.
She later joined the Binibining Pilipinas pageant, where she was crowned as the Philippines’ representative to The Miss Globe contest in Albania in 2021.
More than three years since bagging her international crown, what she considered was a fitting valedictory to her decade-long pageant “career,” Montagne has sustained her fighting form, something that has given pageant fans hope for her return to pageantry.
But she instead rallied behind the ladies who will fight for their pageant dreams. “[I’m] looking forward to supporting all of the queens this year! May the best woman win. [Crown] Wishing everyone love and light!” she said.