“Fat, ugly pig.”
These three piercing words are among the meanest things people had hurled at Bagani actress Emmanuelle Vera, which she confessed during an Instagram Live Q&A she had with her followers a few years ago. She recounted being called this way by a group of lads in her early teen years, the period when she was having difficulty in losing weight, which made her chubby.
That traumatic experience probably what motivated her to take on the excruciating yet fulfilling fitness journey years ago, which indeed paid off as she now boasts a fit and sexy figure. On that same Q & A session, she imparted to her followers the activities she usually does to maintain her body, namely, attending workout classes three to four times a week, rock climbing, yoga, and undergoing intermittent fasting, which she was unable to do during that time because of the pandemic.
Moreover, while many were speculating that the 26-year-old talented stunner went under the knife in order to achieve the physique she has at present, she confidently stated, “Plastic surgery? No, not yet. But I’m not closing my doors to it maybe in the future when I get older. Non-surgical enhancements? Yes, all the time.”
It was actually not the first time when Emmanuelle, who had her acting debut via the 2010 musical drama series 1DOL, first opened up about her weight woes as she initially tackled it in one of her social media posts in 2017. She posted a mirror selfie of herself while cladded in a two-piece bikini and wrote in the caption how her insecurities had prevented her from posting much of anything and how she had already mustered the courage, finally, “to be defiant – toward society, toward today’s standard of beauty, and even toward my own self.”
She further expounded, “I honestly hate how people put such a premium on appearance & make it tower above all things. it may be the first thing you see in a individual, but it surely isn't the defining factor of their worth. there's infinitely more to a person than the extra pooch hanging around their thighs, or a lack of muscle definition in their arms, or a flat chest. we need to come to the realization that there are far more valuable parts to human beings—things that will weather the corrosive effects of time—things like kindness, good character, discipline, hard work, talent, a beautiful mind. and no, i'm not gonna edit my body to get a ton of likes or give me a false sense of happiness. appearance can't be the epicenter of my existence. most definitely not if i want to live a healthy, genuinely satisfying life.”
Since then, she has grown confident in showing off her beautiful body that she worked hard for to make it fit and strong. And during the pandemic, she made one of the life-changing choices she has probably ever made in her life.
Now, aside from being a singer and actress, Emmanuelle is also a certified beauty queen! Just in case you missed it, she joined Miss World Philippines in 2021 and eventually representing the country in the Reina Hispanoamericana pageant held in Bolivia later that year, wherein she finished as 3rd runner-up.
Hope those powerful and encouraging words from Emmanuelle and her inspiring journey, as well as her sultry snaps in this gallery, will motivate and empower you to do things that will make you feel good about yourself just like what she did!
Catch her as the mermaid Magindara in Bagani, which is having a re-run every weekday afternoon on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live and A2Z.