Even if she was unable to secure the highly-coveted crown in the recently concluded Miss Universe-Philippines 2020, Michele Gumabao is showered with love and support by friends and family. Her brother, Kapamilya actor Marco Gumabao, took to Instagram to express how he’d always be proud of his sister.
In 2018, after she won the Miss Globe-Philippines title at the Binibining Pilipinas pageant, Michele appeared on TWBA to share more about her life and pageant journey.
She and Marco are very close, evident in how they show affection or poke fun at each other during interviews. In this guesting, Michele shared that Marco, as the only boy in the family, is everyone’s favorite ‘handsome guy.’
“My kuyas are very past our generation. So, Marco grew up in a very maternal environment. Four sisters and a mom, so napupuri talaga siya,” she said.
She added, “Favorite siya ng Mommy ko. Marco can do no wrong in the eyes of my mother.”
Michele went on to reveal that she was mistaken for Marco upon cutting her hair short for her collegiate career.
Others also thought she’s a lesbian. “In college, you’re required to cut your hair, very short, boy cut. So nung nagpagupit ako ng buhok, first time in my life, everybody was like, ‘Si Marco Gumabao ‘ata yan.’”
“Grabe naman! Parang meron naman kahit konti,” she quipped, putting her hands on her chest.
Michele is an athlete, a former star player of the De La Salle University women’s volleyball team. She was hailed as the Finals Most Valuable Player for the UAAP Season 75.
In 2014, she became one of the celebrity housemates for Pinoy Big Brother. She first crossed over to pageantry in 2018 by joining the Binibining Pilipinas competition wherein she was crowned as Miss Globe-Philippines. She won as a 2nd runner up in the recently concluded Miss Universe-Philippines 2020.