THE year 2022 has been undoubtedly a real blessing for beauty queen-turned-actress Kylie Verzosa.
She may have had her heart broken this year, after the break-up of her nearly four-year relationship with actor Jake Cuenca. Yet, that heartbreak was overcome by great news that happened to Verzosa.
Last October, Verzosa won best actress at the Distinctive International Arab Festivals Awards (DIAFA) for “The Housemaid,” the Filipino adaptation of the 2010 South Korean thriller of the same title.
The award felt like winning another crown for Verzosa and it was another “joyous” moment for her. Six years ago, she bagged the Miss International title for the Philippines.
“Dream come true,” Verzosa posted on her Instagram after she received her acting trophy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Then she became the Tanduay calendar girl for 2023. Organizers shot her images for the commercial four months ago.
She also received a number of offers internationally for acting, modelling, pictorials.
She finished shooting another series and wrapped up another film.
“I really didn’t expect this year to be really this good,” Verzosa told republicasia. “I just worked really hard and I give my best one hundred percent every time. I just accept all the blessings.
“This year was so surprising and incredibly good for me. I really think that the more you receive, the more you give back. It really opened my eyes. Sana matuloy next year lahat ng offers this year,” she further said.
Verzosa is capping 2022 with a collaboration with 31-year-old jewelry designer Drake Dustin Ibay, who signed her up as the latest celebrity endorser and image model for Lvna.
Drake Dustin Ibay and Kylie Verzosa all set to collaborate
The actress-beauty queen will design a whole capsule collection for Lvna – necklace, earrings, bracelets, rings.
“It’s going to be a Kylie collection,” Ibay said about Verzosa’s coming celebrity collection. “It’s affordable.”
Verzosa’s signature necklace, cluster diamond shapes designed by Ibay is “chic and elegant,” described Ibay. “Brilliant and glamourous. Very Kylie.”
Her ring is a floral art deco.
Lvna first signed up actress and social media influencer, Ivana Alawi, who was the first brand endorser in 2020, followed by beauty queen Rabiya Mateo last year. Lvna was eyeing Verzosa a long time ago.
“I’m just so grateful,” Verzosa said. “Tuloy tuloy ang blessings that I never expected. I was just surprised. I never thought that I was working for an award. I just worked hard and do my best every time.
“The blessings will just come. Then I moved on to the next. I give my all and everything. To a post, to work, to a scene, to a phone call, even to a text. I never want to regret something na hindi ko binigay.”
Jewelry makes Verzosa so empowered.
“Like when I wear a really nice dress, pero may kulang pa rin,” she said. “I need accessories, I need shine, I need bling. My look is not complete without jewelry.”
She proudly walked in Dubai when she won the best actress award.
“I was just so confident that I had the best jewelry na malaki, maganda,” she said. “With Lvna, it started my appreciation for jewelry.”
Her mom gave her a small set of earrings and necklace when she turned 16.
“‘She said: ‘Kylie, I want to give these to you. It’s an investment.’ At that time, hindi ko pa naintindihan. As I grew older, that was when I started to appreciate jewelry. Now, the more I appreciate jewelry. They say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” she said.
Since 2017, Verzosa started investing her money in assets – jewelry, real estate, stocks.
“I’m very hands on in everything I do,” she said. “Lahat. When Viva allows me to, I suggest marketing and even the poster.”
On December 26, Verzosa is slated to leave for Paris, France to do a pictorial for an international brand. She is expected to return early January.
Verzosa finished her business management course from the Ateneo de Manila University.
“The best actress award is the most special for me. Matagal ko na siyang pinangarap, ever since I started acting. You reap what you sow. Tuloy tuloy lang ako. I don’t get attached to things. Whatever I have now, I’m already focused on what’s to come,” she said.
The most special for her was her best actress trophy.
“One week ko siyang tinitigan bago matulog,” Verzosa said. “I kept on asking, ‘Wow, totoo ba ito?’”
When she looks at the trophy, Versoza doesn’t regard it as an award.
“It represents to me all the things that I worked so hard for. I could see all the hardships that I endured finishing that film. As Daisy, my character. All the nights that I cried. Humugot ako, na ayoko na.
“I saw all those things when I looked at that trophy. Going to the set at 5 a.m. and finishing at 3 a.m. We worked so hard. I saw all those things. For me, respect needs to be earned. But when you’re there on the set, you need to open up. Two years ago, I was very unsure of myself and my capability as an actress,” she said.
She got the chance to work with the likes of award-winning acting thespians Jaclyn Jose and Albert Martinez in “The Housemaid.”
“Ako ang baguhan sa set, will you not get insecure? I was just prepared to come to the set. I did my best little by little. Then with director Roman Perez, Jr.’s direction, he was able to motivate me.
“When I see it, I saw all the hardships that I’ve been through and all the things na pwede ko pang gawin. They eventually pay off,” she said.
She did cry, but not when she was onstage to receive the best actress award.
“A lot of things were happening around me when I received that award. It took a few days to sink in. I cried after,” she recalled.
Verzosa described her status as “single and just very single.”
“[Laughed] “Pwede naman to mingle. I’m doing well. I wouldn’t say I’ve fully recovered. But I’m so much better,” she said.
“It has been six months. My eyes are my biggest asset. Lahat nakikita and hindi ako sinungaling,” she added.
