Ayn Bernos Fights For Her Pageant Dream

When social media personality Roussane Marie “Ayn” Bernos was given the opportunity to chase her pageant dreams through Miss Universe Philippines (MUPH), she initially had no training, no makeup skills, no glam photos, not even heels.

- Nathalie Tomada

But nothing was stopping her from going for what she has been “imagining for many, many years.”

“Even if you ask my mom, I would walk around the house, pose in front of the mirror and they would always ask me, ‘Why are you posing?’ But for me, it was something that I just enjoyed doing (since I was a kid) and I guess it’s paid off because now I get to do it hopefully on stage,” the 27-year-old content creator and entrepreneur told The STAR in an interview before she was announced as part of the official 30 candidates of this year’s MUPH.

What Ayn thought was impossible became possible after this year’s MUPH removed the height requirement, allowing the 5’3”-tall proud morena to join the competition.

So vocal was she about her dream to be a beauty queen someday that she’d often joke to family and friends that “the moment the height requirement is gone, I’m joining, wala akong paki (laughs), I will join Miss Universe, I will join a pageant.”

When it did happen, she applied on the spot last May. “I remember my dad even sent me a screenshot of the headline (saying) Miss Universe (Philippines) would be removing the height requirement, and he was like, ‘Isn’t this your dream?’ And I was like, I already applied,” she recalled. “It’s so funny because a lot of people kept tagging me on posts, like last June, and I couldn’t tell them that it’s done, I’ve already applied.”