Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach says she suffered from mental health issues and even depression after being crowned.

Appearing at an event in Intramuros, Manila – Philippines last week, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach shared about her mental health issues after being crowned Miss Universe.

She said: “After winning Miss Universe 2015, I thought it would be a cure for all the childhood trauma and all the rejections. But it wasn’t. It made my pain worse.”

“I thought, Oh my God, I’ve found my purpose. I won Miss Universe and that’s it. But every day, I feel like I have to continue to prove why I deserve it, especially because of the crowning incident that year,” the beauty added.

At the Miss Universe 2015 final, host Steve Harvey made a very unfortunate mistake when he mistakenly announced the winner as Colombian beauty – Ariadna Gutiérrez. After realizing his mistake, Steve Harvey re-announced the real winner as Pia Wurtzbach.

Although grateful, Pia also confessed that she felt bad, even depressed because of that victory.

“I felt like I had to prove that I deserved it. It was hard. I was so hard on myself and I fell into the worst state I had ever been in, and I hid it from everyone. I think I found my worth and I think people recognized my worth too,” she said.

After 9 years, thanks to the mentors, Pia has overcome her fear and trauma.

“It’s been nine years and what I’ve learned is that my worth is not measured by the crown or the title, the number of likes I get on each post or the brands that decide to work with me. These things are fleeting. One day, I won’t be young anymore. I won’t be this healthy anymore and I probably won’t have such a large audience to listen to me anymore,” Pia shared.

While winning Miss Universe was the pinnacle of her career, Pia believes that her success doesn’t stop there.

“I deserve it because I’ve broken free from the shackles that society has placed on me. I’m taking control of achieving my dreams and those dreams range from career opportunities to family goals. In addition, the long-term impact that the activities I build will leave on society,” she said.

The beauty affirmed: “Nothing makes me happier than knowing that my stories can somehow inspire and motivate others to achieve their dreams. We deserve this. We deserve to dream big, to win, to be happy and to have a balanced life.”

Pia Wurtzbach was born in 1989, crowned Miss Philippines and Miss Universe in 2015. After being crowned Miss Universe 2015, Pia developed a strong career in many fields such as modeling, acting and appearing in many TVC commercials.

In May 2023, Pia Wurtzbach and her businessman boyfriend Jeremy Jauncey held a private wedding ceremony at sea. Before Jeremy Jauncey, Pia was famous for being a flirtatious beauty and had publicly dated many people such as Mikhail Varshavski – voted “World’s Most Handsome Doctor 2015” by People magazine or Marlon Stockinger – a famous Philippine formula racer.