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Miss Eco International 2025 Alexie Brooks proudly flaunts the ‘battle scars’ that helped her win her tiara. Image: INQUIRER.net/Armin P.
Adina Winning a global pageant title literally took blood, sweat and tears for recently crowned 2025 Miss Eco International Alexie Brooks , who was actually bleeding during the final contest held in Egypt earlier this month. The Ilongga national athlete proudly flaunted what she calls her “battle scars” when she appeared for her victory party held in Pasig City on Thursday afternoon, April 24. Wearing a white tube-top mini-dress, Brooks showed off two slanted marks on her back, what remained of the wounds she sustained because of her Philippine Eagle-inspired garb that won for her the Best in National Costume award in the competition.
“People would see that once you compete, sometimes you have battle scars. But you can stay beautiful still,” the new international queen told INQUIRER.net in an interview on the sidelines of her party.
Brooks said she was not aware that wounds were starting to develop as she pulled the strings to unfurl her massive wings. “I was just having fun with myself, I’m enjoying it. I’m sure you could see me smiling,” she said.
“And when I went backstage parang mahapdi na iyong likod (my back hurt). I saw that it was actually bleeding a little. Pero sabi ko (But I said), you know what, it’s just the start of the competition.
This is literally nothing [compared to] the pain that I need to endure in the competition,” she shared. Brooks also said that preparing for a pageant was more challenging than training in sports. She has been a track athlete since she was a young girl, and was a member of the Philippine athletics team for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2022.
“In pageants, a lot of people are expecting something from you, and most of the time it’s on social media. So, most of the time the people don’t know the truth. And sometimes they can get a little harsh, and that would have an effect on your mental health.
So I think, pageantry [is harder],” she explained. Brooks also got to show off the tiara that she got to signify her Miss Eco International victory, something she was not able to do when she faced the media at the airport when she arrived on Monday. But the real crown, the bigger one that was debuted during the 10th edition of the competition and she got to be the first winner to receive, stayed with the organizers.
“Natakot akong iuwi eh, mahal iyong crown (I was afraid to bring it home because it’s expensive),” Brooks said in jest. She hopes to show the actual crown to her fellowmen when representatives from the organization bring it to the Philippines sometime in the near future. She said Dr.
Amaal Rezk, the founder, plans to visit Manila to discuss her reign. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy .
Brooks is the third Filipino woman, and the first black winner, to receive the Miss Eco International crown. The two previous titleholders from the Philippines were Cynthia Thomalla in 2018 and Kathleen Paton in 2022..
