First reality show with all-Asian American cast

What happens when you bring five beauty pageant hopefuls to live in a mansion for six weeks with two over-the-top coaches and a team of fashion and media specialists? That’s the question The People’s Queen would like to answer.

The glamorous new reality show that is taking the pageant world by storm, becomes available globally starting October. The People’s Queen is being called a cross between Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and America’s Next Top Model. The show follows Cecilio Asuncion and Voltaire Tayag as they challenge five of the top Filipino pageant hopefuls in their quests for international titles. 

Cecilio and Voltaire are not simply shaping the perfect beauty queen; they’re creating The People’s Queen. 

“The pageant community is looking to redefine its role in an era of female empowerment and gender equality,” Asuncion explains. 

His history with the pageant system extends to before he was even born. His grandmother was Miss Manila. Today, Asuncion is the Director of Slay Model Management, the world’s first all-Transgender model agency and National Director of Miss Supranational USA. He judged the Miss Universe 2017 pageant in Las Vegas and hosted this year’s Miss Teen USA pageant in Shreveport, Louisiana. 

“In order to triumph, pageant contestants are required to dig deep within their souls, confront unresolved personal issues and overcome self-doubt,” says Tayag, another pageant veteran. 

He was a fashion designer before turning his passion and expertise into becoming a pageant journalist and trainer. A stickler for traditional training techniques, Tayag often butts heads with Asuncion and his less conventional training methods.

The five pageant hopefuls in The People’s Queen are Nikita, a biracial beauty confronting her bullied past; 25 year-old Katrina, who spent years focusing on the needs of her immigrant family and may have missed her chance for an international crown; 15 year-old Jenny, a pageant newbie who may be too rough around the edges; overly shy Michelle who must break out of her shell if she hopes to compete at the Miss Philippines pageant; and Katarina, a runner-up on Asia’s Next Top Model and former Miss Intercontinental Philippines who is now vying for the Miss World Philippines crown. 

“American audiences are craving multiculturalism in their televised programming and are especially interested in seeing more Asian representation,” says ABS-CBN Global COO Olivia De Jesus. She points to the successes of ABC-TV’s Fresh Off the Boat and the Warner Brothers Pictures’ film, Crazy Rich Asians.

De Jesus is an executive producer on The People’s Queen along with Jun Del Rosario, John Lazatin and Glenn Meehan, whose previous executive producer credits include the long-running TLC reality series, Little People, Big World.

The People’s Queen is ABS-CBN International’s first foray into a reality show in English with an all-Asian American cast beyond its Myx TV channel. It will be seen globally on Myx TV (Myxtv.com) starting Oct. 24; on TFC on cable, satellite, TFC online (TFC.tv) and Lifestyle Network on Oct. 27 in North America, Europe and Middle East (Oct. 28 in Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia); and on Metro channel in the Philippines in November.