Cebu’s Nicole Borromeo crowned as Binibining Pilipinas International 2022 at today’s coronation night in Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Bb. Pilipinas via Twitter

MANILA, Philippines — “Is this a Pia Wurtzbach or a Steve Harvey moment?”

Many live and online viewers asked such as they had to wait for more than one minute to hear Cebu’s Nicole Borromeo crowned as Binibining Pilipinas International 2022 at today’s coronation night in Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Lights were dimmed for a moment while the audience had to wait for hosts, Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and Miss Grand International 2016 1st runner-up Nicole Cordoves, to announce the last queen to be named. That final reveal reminded many netizens of Wurtzbach’s unforgettable coronation as Miss Universe 2015 in the United States.

Borromeo’s winning answer from the Top 12 round came from the question of actor Donny Pangilinan, who asked her to rate herself on a scale of 1 to 10 on how she is a responsible Filipino citizen.

“As a responsible Filipino citizen, I’d like to give myself a good eight, because I know that there’s always room to improve. There’s so much I don’t know. But there’s so much I’m willing to learn. And I hope to do that with you,” Borromeo replied.

The Interior Design student from Cebu bested 40 other candidates that comprised her fellow seasoned pageant contestants as well as TV personalities. The new Binibini queens are Binibining Pilipinas Intercontinental Gabrielle Camille Basiano, Binibining Pilipinas Globe Chelsea Fernandez, and Binibining Pilipinas Grand International Roberta Angela Tamondong.

Former “Ang Probinsyano” star Stacey Daniella Gabriel was named 2nd runner-up while crowd favorite and former “Wowowin” host Herlene Nicole Budol was named 1st runner-up.

Prior to winning the crown, Borromeo was named Miss Millenial Philippines 2019, Miss Millennial Cebu 2019, Sinulog Festival Queen 2019 and Reyna Ng Aliwan 2019.