IamA Miss Universe, Pia Wurtzbach. AMA!

Let's please get the elephant in the room out: What's your opinion about yoga pants?

I wear yoga pants. I know guys like it when we wear yoga pants... come on guys, let's not kid ourselves, don't lie! I mean, I wouldn't wear them out in public, like when I'm walking around shopping or with my friends in the mall. I'd wear them for working out. But yoga pants are sexy!

And… I'm curious, why are you asking this question? You want to see me in yoga pants?

When is the rest of the universe going to be invited to the contest?

Well, Pluto got disqualified so that lessens the competition. I think once they get better internet connection, because the votes are real time, so it will take how many light years for the results to get here? We still have to work on the - oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm actually taking this answer seriously! Haha! Maybe in the future, but good thing they're not invited to the competition yet, otherwise it would be more than 80 candidates from Crater One and then Crater Two and Crater Three.

Hi Pia! Congratulations and I would like to say thank you for being an inspiration. You are living proof that one should never give up on your dreams. And you play Final Fantasy as well. You, I like you. You deserve all your blessings and plenty more to come!

I would like to know who's your favorite FF character? And what other video games do you play on your spare time?

Edit: thanks miss universe for putting us geeks out there. And props to you for not using Gameshark. fistbump

Finally, somebody asks me a questions like this! I've been asked about Steve Harvey all the time and about Miss Universe. Let's talk about Final Fantasy!

I started with Final Fantasy VIII. Not a lot of people like VIII because they usually start with FFVII. But I started with VIII because I'm a girl and I fell for the love story.

My favorite character...that's a tough one... is Quistis. The one with the whip. I like her. And my favorite GF, you know when they summon the GF, is Shiva. She's my favorite. Then I do the boost, as well, so I get more damage. I love Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. I finished all of Kingdom Hearts with no gameshark.

Did you talk to Miss Columbia after the misshap? What did you guys talk about?

I wasn't able to talk to her backstage, but I did greet her on her birthday, which also happens to be Christmas day. I said, "Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas." She replied back to me, "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" and that was it. Since then, I haven't really been able to talk to her because we're both just busy.

What type of food do you like best?

And when can I take you on a date to that type of restaurant ?

I like Indian food, Thai, Korean. I like spicy food.

When can you take me out on a date? Hahaha. Maybe when you give me the Reddit gold? Give me Reddit gold and I'll think about it!

I was amazed at home composed you were despite all the craziness surrounding this year's pageant. You really seem to know how to handle yourself and have real, solid values. I'm curious as to how you got to that point.

So, what's the best advice you've ever received?

I've always been pretty good at handling tough situations. There are a lot of factors, and I guess it's because of the way I was raised, the kind of values that I learned living in the Philippines. Also, with knowing how to control my emotions during situations that are kind of awkward, because I was an actress back home in the Philippines. I started when I was very young, so I know when to hold back a little bit. Those are some of the factors why I was able to keep my composure during that situation.

The best life lesson advice, I actually learned myself. It's that if you want something, you have to get it yourself because nobody is going to hand it to you. I know it sounds kind of rough when you listen to it. I wouldn't tell a little kid that, "You know if you want something, you have to work really hard for it. It's never going to be given to you." But the lesson I learned was that if you want something, something done specifically, you have to do it yourself. You can't rely on somebody else. You can't rely on other people. You have to be the one to do it, if you want something. That's the best life lesson I've gotten.

I've always been independent. My parents got separated when I was very young. I was the breadwinner of my family, and I decided to join this pageant. I joined three times. I've been through a lot and nothing was ever given to me that easily, so that's what I learned. If you want something, nobody is going to help you. You have to get it yourself, unfortunately. But that's good. It's a good life lesson.

How much of the Universe do you expect to conquer during your reign?

All of it! I already conquered Reddit, I think I can take on the universe.

What's the funniest thing you have seen behind the scenes at a miss universe type of pageant?

Oh, my gosh. I've seen many things. Everybody is very helpful. If I see another girl with her tag out, we will help each other to make sure we all get out on stage looking good, but the funniest thing...

Oh, I think I the funniest is during the pageant, I guess I was one of the noisiest, loudest because I like to shake off my nerves by screaming backstage. So, prior to that, I was kind of quiet and reserved during the pageant, but on the pageant night that's when I just couldn't help it anymore. I just had to scream out my nervousness. The girls were kind of looking at me like, "Oh, she speaks?" Hahaha! I guess that was kind of funny. But when I started doing it, other girls started doing it, as well. You think that we're all prim and proper when we're onstage, but backstage we're all dying of nervousness.

What subreddits do you frequent? How did you discover reddit?

subreddits

Haha, you know, I would love to answer this question, however, if I wasn't Miss Universe, haha. Because I go on some weird subreddits, but Miss Universe friendly subreddits would have to be r/funny — it’s funny! Or this one! I love r/IAmA. I usually go on the top ones. Because the subreddits I go on . . . I mean I don't go on r/gonewild, okay, just to get that out of the way. But there are many — I mean there are subreddits for almost anything, right? You know, I tried searching subreddits for pageants before, like for Miss Universe. There aren't much. Maybe we should start one, right? That's a good idea.

[I found Reddit] Through my ex boyfriend. Should I give them a shoutout? No. Yes, he was the one - I mean, I would see him on Reddit a lot and then that got me into Reddit, so during my free time I just go on Reddit. I don't have an account myself. Well now I do, but I didn't have one. I was a lurker. But I go on it, and you know the best thing about Reddit are the comments. That's my favorite. The comments are so witty all the time. Whenever I'm feeling a little bit down, I go on Reddit and then I find something witty right away and that picks up my mood right away.

What's the lamest superpower you would settle for?

Hi Lula, I like your question. The lamest super power... like something that is really useless? There are so many things, a useless superpower... that's a tough one, because all I can think of is the cool super powers. I would want to be invisible. I don't want to go back in time because I'm cool with whatever happens. But invisible maybe, or that I'm able to go through walls, yeah that'd be cool. Or to be able to fly.

But the lamest... maybe to read my ex boyfriend's mind. I mean it's useless because he's your ex for a reason, there's no way to fix things anymore. But okay, that's lame, hahahaha!

Hi Pia, congratulations on becoming Ms Universe.

I got a tough question for you: Whats your favorite Filipino dish to eat?

Also my wife is HUGE fan of yours. Could you give her a quick shoutout, it would make her day (her name is CJ). Thanks.

Hi Javaman, thank you for asking me about food, my favorite topic. My favorite Filipino food is kare kare, it's oxtail with savory peanut butter sauce and shrimp paste on the side. Now I know it sounds weird when you read it because it's a mixture of all these ingredients that you wouldn't imagine to be in one dish, but you have to trust me. All these dishes combined, it's like a party in your mouth. You have to trust me. Go into a Filipino restaurant, and tell them Pia Wurtzbach said that I should have some kare kare, and then get back to me. Let me know what you think.

What made you want to run for Miss Universe in the first place?

Any specific reason?

I had my idols when I was watching Miss Universe as a kid, but I don't try to copy anybody. I just try to be, and I know this has been said many times and I probably sound like a broken record but, I'm just myself, so because I wanted to make a name for myself, that's why. So I tried not to copy or emulate anybody; I wanted to be known as Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, Miss Universe, and I was able to do it. So, it worked!

Thank you for inspiring me everyday!

When you’re going through tough times, and don’t want to get out of bed, how do you stay motivated?

Also are you coming to visit your fans in Los Angeles any time soon?

What are your favorite songs right now?

I'm very blessed that I get to do what I want to do, and I shouldn't be complaining, so whenever there are moments where I feel like i'm being lazy, I think about what it would be like if I didn't have any work at all, and that would be worse, right?

I've never been to Los Angeles actually, so I hope that this year — I mean I'm sure that I'll be able to visit Los Angeles pretty soon. I have some friends there, and it would be nice to see them, and of course see the Filipino community. So Hopefully very soon I'll be able to visit Los Angeles.

Well, the artist Banks, she's one of my favorites. I listen to her album--I mean, her album is on loop almost every day. It's like the anthem of my life. And each song reminds me of a time in my life or a guy, haha! So Banks, whatever song of hers is good for me.

If you could have a heart-to-heart conversation with a 5 year old you, what would you talk about?

Five. How much I wish I knew back then.

At five years old, I was in the Province, and all I cared about was playing with Barbies. I didn't really think much about life then. If I could speak to her, I would say, “Girl, fasten your seatbelt because it's going to be a tough ride, but it's okay because you'll get your crown.”

So how's life different after being crowned?

Well, I miss the days where I could just cross the street and buy coffee on my own, but I guess what's different now is that there's security everywhere, and people recognize me. Not just Filipinos but everybody, even here in America. I think that's pretty cool!

Also, that people actually listen to what I say now- I mean come on, I have my own thread on Reddit! That's one of the cool things. So, it's just being able to reach out to more people and get the interest of people. I think that would be the biggest difference, is that I'm still myself, but I have a bigger audience now.

What is your personal thought on American culture opposed to anywhere else?

In the Philippines, it's very Americanized. If you go to the Philippines, compared to the other neighboring Asian countries, on TV we have American series, TV shows, the movies as well. Almost everybody speaks English. We're very pro-American, I would say almost everybody. I daresay 1% — and I'm sure the nerds are going to correct me on this but — I'd say just about 1% are not pro-American. Most Filipinos are pro-American, and so am I!

Although you've got both inner and outer beauty, which one is the most important for you ?

Inner! You can't fake that! Here's the difference between inner and outer beauty. You have a beautiful woman who walks into a room, she's stunning, right? But no self confidence, let's say a restaurant setting, and let's say she doesn't even say "thank you" to the waiter. I mean isn't that such a turn off?

I find that really a waste, because you can be physically so stunning but then if you're not nice, and you don't care about other people then suddenly all of that physically just disappears. But then you can have this...maybe according to standards of society she's not as stunning as Girl #1, but then she enters the room with a smile on her face right away, and greets everyone "good afternoon" or "good morning" and says "please" and "thank you", and is polite and cares about other people. Suddenly you're drawn to her. Why? Because she's nice! That's it! So, yeah. Inner beauty, definitely.

What's your favorite unhealthy thing to snack on?

Chocolate… Nutella. It's Nutella day today!

It's Nutella day today, but I'm not having any. But yea, chocolate, Haribo gummy bears, Kinder...Those are my favorite.

So guys, if you're ever going to give me anything, haha, please let it be those things.