Catriona to visit Indonesia
Catriona Gray is set to visit Indonesia in the coming days.
The reigning Miss Universe herself made this public during an interview for the morning show “Good Day New York” on Fox 5, Tuesday.
Said Gray of her first official trip abroad as Miss Universe, “I’ve been told we’re off to Indonesia which will be my first time there.”
She added, “I’m excited about it because my roommate during the Miss Universe pageant was Miss Indonesia. And she told me beautiful things about her country where to visit, where to eat. So I hope I can catch up with her and also I can look around and really explore.”
Show hosts Rosanna Scotto and Lori Stokes also asked Gray about her long-time boyfriend FilipinoGerman Clint Bondad describing the latter as “cute.”
They teased Gray. “Who will watch your boyfriend now that you’re in New York?
Gray smiled and said: “I just wanna focus on the year ahead. Thankfully he is very understanding.”
In the same interview, the Filipino-Australian beauty queen also said she would love to pursue a career in singing.
“I would definitely love to pursue singing. I have a Certificate in Music Theory from the Berklee College of Music. It’s definitely something that I have a love for ever since I was a little girl. Broadway? Why not,” Gray said.
For her 25th birthday last Jan. 6, Gray said that she went to see the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen.” “I love the music. It was amazing. Actually my friend gifted me the ticket and I was literally on the front row.”
Gray also shared her thrill about her apartment in New York. “The apartment is amazing! I can look out and see Central Park. So I feel like in a movie or something. This is what you dream about. It’s the Miss Universe apartment. I live along with Miss USA,” she said.
Gray also said that she just realized the importance of pageantry in pursing her advocacy which is education for poor kids.
“I never realized the platform the pageantry has. At first when I was younger, I just saw it as a show with sparkly dresses. It wasn’t until I’ve been seeing Filipino people see beauty queens. They really have a voice in the community,” she said.
Gray added: “I think that expanded with the help of social media to other countries around the world. Knowing that platform and I was volunteering for charities at that time, and I say wow! That’s how further I can push or reach for
my causes if I can use pageantry.”
The beauty queen admitted she never experienced poverty in life.
“When I was growing up, I never experienced poverty first-hand. It’s really different seeing it and sensing it rather than through a screen or TV. So that’s happened when I was in Manila, there’s an area called Tondo which is actually known as a garbage dump. And most of the families there make a living from scavenging for trash;
“So the children there are pulled out early from school to help make ends meet for their family or they never go to school. That’s why I am passionate about education and I work for an organization called Young Focus. And they give free and quality access to education for the children in the area,’ Gray added.