The Miss Grand International (MGI) organization made a shocking statement yesterday, May 28, regarding the termination of 2025 titleholder Rachel Gupta's reign.
In a Facebook post, they detailed that the Indian beauty queen has relinquished her crown due to "her failure to fulfill her assigned duties, engagement in external projects without prior approval from the organization, and her refusal to participate in the scheduled trip to Guatemala." Given these, the organization formalized that Rachel is no longer associated with the title, and is ordered to return her crown within 30 days from the date of notice.
Pageant fans were left bewildered by the sudden vacancy of the MGI throne. Many were quick to claim that first runner-up and Philippine delegate CJ Opiaza would assume the throne, given her placement right behind Rachel. While the organization has yet to make an announcement, they have shared a reel on their page highlighting clips of CJ's performance in the pageant. "Stay tuned," they captioned the cryptic post.
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Should CJ be crowned as Miss Grand International, she would make history as the first-ever Filipina to hold the title. This would become the country's highest placement ever in the contest, following Samantha Bernardo and Nicole Cordoves' first-runner-up placements during their respective years of competing.
With CJ poised to join a lineage of victorious queens, below, we’ve rounded up the key facts to know about her.
Fast Facts
Who Is CJ Opiaza, The New Miss Grand International 2024?
1.
CJ was born in Zambales.
Christine Juliane Opiaza was born on July 8, 1998 in Castillejos, Zambales. She's represented the seaside province in all of the local and international pageants she's been involved in.
2.
CJ started competing in pageants to get a college scholarship.
CJ's foray into pageantry began during her adolescence, when she joined contests in hopes of winning college scholarships. In 2013, she won a scholarship to the Lyceum of Subic Bay where she studied human resource development management. In her time as a student, she was also crowned Miss Lyceum 2015.
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CJ competing in Miss Grand International 2025 / PHOTOS: Instagram/cjopiaza
3.
CJ first competed in Binibining Pilipinas 2022.
Officially entering the national pageant circuit, CJ wore the sash of Zambales at Binibining Pilipinas 2022. Unfortunately, the night ended with her being unplaced. That edition of the pageant concluded with Hannah Arnold winning Binibining Pilipinas-International, Chelsea Fernandez winning Binibining Pilipinas-Globe, and Roberta Tamondong winning Binibining Pilipinas-Grand International, among other titles handed out.
4.
CJ initially placed as 1st Runner Up in Miss Grand International.
In September 2024, CJ was crowned Miss Grand International-Philippines from a field of 21 candidates. A month later, she flew to Thailand for the Miss Grand International pageant, where she wound up as the first runner-up.
During the ultimate question-and-answer portion of the night, she was asked for her thoughts on the "most critical issue in the world today." With confidence, she answered: “The most pressing issue that we have today is, of course, the presence of civil war and violence... We live in the same world, we breathe the same air, we are living in the same place. Treat one another as your brothers and sisters.”
Upon coming home to the Philippines, CJ was welcomed with a grand motorcade in Pasay City, joined by MGI founder and president Nawat Itsaragrisil.
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PHOTOS: Instagram/cjopiaza
5.
CJ is a modeling and runway coach for her fellow beauty queens.
Aside from collecting crowns herself, CJ has also helped her fellow queens claim theirs. She's worked as a modeling and pasarela coach for the likes of Reina Hispanoamericana 2025 Dia Mate and Miss Eco International 2025 Alexie Brooks. CJ has also extended her expertise to Miss Grand Thailand 2025 Saranrat Puagpipat.
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CJ with Reina Hispanoamericana 2025 Dia Mate / PHOTO: Instagram/cjopiaza.
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This story originally appeared on Preview.ph. Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.
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