From Pia Wurtzbach to Nadine Lustre: How Ian Mendajar trained runway-ready queens, stars

Behind Nadine Lustre’s seamless pasarela, dubbed the “mama walk,” in the 51st Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry “Call Me Mother” was pageant runway coach Ian Mendajar.

- CHARMIE JOY PAGULONG

Ian Mendajar with Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.

Nadine underwent pageant training for her role as a beauty queen in the film where she starred alongside Vice Ganda.

“It was fun!” Ian told The STAR, during the intimate press gathering of his footwear launch under Jojo Bragais, as he recalled his experience collaborating with Nadine. “It’s not the first time I've trained a superstar. But before we started, Nadine told me, ‘You know what, my glam team is so happy because they had been pushing me to join pageants before.’ I told her to go for it. Charot!”

Ian added that whenever Nadine’s glam team sees her wearing high heels, they get excited. “True enough, they were thrilled. It was a fun experience because I was not just involved in the training, I was also there during the taping for ‘Call Me Mother.’”

Nadine was no exception to the physical demands of pageant training. According to Ian, the actress got hurt during their rigorous training sessions.

“To the point that her back hurt. Super sakit daw. I think nagpa-check-up siya after. I said, ‘Welcome to pageantry.’ Artists kasi have different postures compared to beauty queens. It's about building the posture.”

For Ian, as a mentor, it warmed his heart to see Nadine embrace the pageant training experience and improve through the process.

Nadine is among the personalities Ian has mentored, alongside some of the biggest names in the world of pageantry, including Miss Universe 2025 third runner-up Ahtisa Manalo, Miss Universe 2023 Top 10 finalist Michelle Dee and Miss International 2019 Top 8 finalist Bea “Patch” Magtanong.