Gloria Diaz. Image: Binibining Pilipinas/Facebook
Gloria Diaz was seemingly shocked when asked to react to netizens finding her now-viral question at the Binibining Pilipinas 2024 pageant “tough,” as it left Calumpit, Bulacan’s Roella Solis giving a far-fetched answer.
Diaz made waves during the national tilt’s question-and-answer portion, where she asked Solis what “physical aspect” would make her win the pageant.
A visibly flustered Solis said she managed to present the “best version” of herself despite dealing with the death of her grandmother.
The Miss Universe 1969 titleholder, however, didn’t seem to be satisfied with her response, as she followed up on her question, emphasizing Solis’ “physical aspect.”
Solis said in response: “What physical asset do I have is I am beautiful, aside from that, I have a mission and vision in life that makes me apart from the other candidates.”
gloria diaz always at the crime scene 💀 #BbPilipinas60 pic.twitter.com/AeL0gVLmlf
— rab (@rixjpg) July 7, 2024
Diaz appeared to be shocked over how “hard” the question turned out for the candidate when asked for comment on TV Patrol, which was broadcast on Monday, July 8.
“Hard ba ‘yun? Ang dali dali… Sabi ko, ang dali dali. This is an easy question. ‘Yun lang (Is that hard? It’s so easy. That’s what I said, it’s very easy. This is an easy question. That’s it),” she said.
Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, who was seated next to Diaz, pointed out that sometimes the simplest questions could turn out to be tough for candidates.
“Minsan kasi, ‘yung mga tanong na akala mong simple pakinggan, ‘yun ang mas mahirap (Sometimes, the questions you thought were simple, that’s the most difficult to answer),” she said.
The ‘Gloria Diaz curse’
A regular judge in national beauty pageants, Diaz is known among fans for her apparent “curse” as her tough questions would always leave beauty queens nervous.
Aside from Solis, Jeanie Andersen is also notable for her confusion when she competed at Binibining Pilipinas in 2001.
During the question-and-answer portion, Diaz caught Andersen off guard after asking, “This question is necessarily not practical, but if you were given a chance to choose to become beautiful but not too smart or very smart and not too beautiful, what would you prefer to be and why?”
Andersen responded with a confused expression which led to Diaz simplifying her question, saying, “What would you rather be, beautiful or smart?”
The Top 10 finisher thought for a moment before responding with her now-viral “Quiet, please” remark to the cheering audience.
She then said: “Well, I’d rather choose to be beautiful because to be beautiful, it’s natural but being smart, you can learn a lot of things, you can learn from the experience, you can learn a lot of things to be smart.”
On the same TV Patrol report, Nicole Cordoves was seemingly aware of Diaz’s “curse,” saying the veteran titleholder indeed asks tough questions.
“Totoo. Walang makakalagpas kay Gloria Diaz. Parang nakakatakot siya and intimidating pero queen na queen talaga siya (It’s true. No one can escape Gloria Diaz. She’s scary and intimidating, but she’s such a queen),” Cordoves said.
Kylie Verzosa, on the other hand, said Diaz is “intimidating” during the question-and-answer portion.
“I agree, she’s very intimidating talaga. Tapos pinapalit pa niya ang questions (She also reangles her questions), it’s very hard,” she said.
Binibining Pilipinas Globe 2024 Jasmin Bungay is one of the rare cases who broke Diaz’s “curse” after she spoke about her support for the SOGIESC Bill when asked by the latter on what topic should she address the public for “30 minutes.”
Her response incidentally was significant to pageant fans, as Diaz had been vocal about making the Miss Universe pageant catering to only biological women.