Pia Wurtzbach Confirmed As Guest In ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’ 5

UPDATE (January 18, 2017): In a chat with Boy Abunda, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach revealed that she will not be part of the whole season of “Asia’s Next Top Model” Cycle 5 because her commitments with Miss Universe needed to take priority. She will however be appearing in some of the show’s episodes. She also clarified that because of this, her “role (in the show) is not what others expected.” She also expressed how “fortunate” she was to have been part of the show and is looking forward to watching the episodes where she is a part of.

Original Post: Miss Universe 2016 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach is joining “Asia’s Next Top Model” Cycle 5 as a guest judge. In a Facebook post via the show’s official Facebook page, a poster of the show’s next cycle showed Pia together with host Cindy Bishop, celebrity photographer Yu Tsai and supermodel Cara G. Mcilroy. In the caption, Pia was called a “special guest.”

This confirmation comes after months of speculation that Pia was going to be part of the show in coming cycle. According to an ABS-CBN report, reports about it started circulating in September and gained some ground after photos of Pia on the show’s set made the rounds.

Netizens React

Hundreds of the beauty queen’s fans immediately flooded the post with positive comments, most of them expressing how happy they are that Pia is going to be in the show.

Some comments however reflected the negative feedback the show has perceived to have gained among Filipino fans. This is supposedly due to the fact that Filipina models who join the show usually do not win because of the judges’ bias towards them. According to some netizens, the show’s move to include Pia was to appease Filipino fans who have been complaining on social media about the show and its bias towards Filipinos. With Pia as a guest judge, she will surely bring in her legions of fans to watch the show.

In previous cycles, Filipino models who competed, namely Monika Sta. Maria, Julian Flores, Jodilly Pendre, Katarina Rodriguez and Stephanie Retuya, have almost won the competition, coming in as runner-ups.

Pia As ‘Guest’ Judge

The announcement did not indicate whether Pia will be a judge. However, previous guests in the show usually are part of the judges panel. It is also not known how many times Pia will make an appearance in the show.

An Instagram user posted photos of Pia while she was filming for the show in Singapore last December. It showed her sitting in a director’s chair, next to the other judges.

Cycle 5 is set to air in March 2017.

#PiaInSingapore as Guest Judge of Asia's next top model . . #piawurtzbach #missuniverse #missuniverse2015

A photo posted by Confidently Beautiful (@pianatic_universe) on Nov 27, 2016 at 4:03am PST