Maria Mika Maxine Perez Medina-Llana (; born May 10, 1990) is a Filipina designer, actress, model, and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Universe Philippines 2016. She represented the Philippines at Miss Universe 2016 and reached the Top 5. She is best known as an actress for portraying Blaire Escudero in the Philippine TV series, '' Magandang Dilag''.

Early life and education

Maria Mika Maxine Perez Medina was born on May 10, 1990 in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

, Philippines. She obtained a bachelor's degree in interior design from the De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde and the Philippine School of Interior Design. She works as an interior designer. She is a commercial print ad model and a senior member of Professional Models Association of the Philippines. Dianne Medina is her cousin.

Pageantry

Binibining Pilipinas 2016

Medina entered and won Binibining Pilipinas 2016 on April 17, 2016, held at the

Smart Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed "the Big Dome" ...

, She also won the ''Miss Philippine Airlines'' award.

Miss Universe 2016

Medina represented the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2016, reaching the top six. At the national costume competition, Medina wore a Rhett Eala creation that was inspired by the

vinta The vinta is a traditional outrigger boat from the Philippine island of Mindanao. The boats are made by Sama-Bajau, Tausug and Yakan peoples living in the Sulu Archipelago, Zamboanga peninsula, and southern Mindanao. It is also made by t ...

, a traditional boat from

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

, matched with a head piece made to resemble a large piece of coral found in the country's reefs. The whole ensemble is said to have cost more than P1 million to make as it was also adorned with south sea pearls. At the preliminary competition, Medina debuted her ''alta'' walk which involved rolling the shoulders in perfect sync with the gliding of hips. She wore a green and white striped bikini at the preliminary swimsuit competition and sashayed in a flowing green gown with a fringe skirt by Rhett Eala at the preliminary evening gown competition. At the coronation, Medina advanced into the top 13. She wore a green and white striped bikini at the top 13 swimsuit competition which let her advance to top 9. She wore a silver-red evening gown crafted by Rhett Eala at the top nine evening gown competition and was able to advance into the top six.

Acting career

In 2018, she made her television debut in '' Hanggang Saan'' as Atty. Georgette Sandiego. She later played Isay in '' Los Bastardos'' which ran from October 2018 to September 2019. She was paired with

Jake Cuenca Juan Carlos Cuenca (; born December 30, 1987), popularly known as Jake Cuenca, is a Filipino actor. He also played for United Football League Division 2 sides Team Socceroo FC. Career At the age of nine, Cuenca was discovered by talent scout ...

in the series. In 2020, she transferred to both

TV5 Network TV5 Network Inc., commonly referred to as TV5, is a Mass media in the Philippines, Philippine Mass media, media company headquartered in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. It primarily operates in radio and television broadcasting and manages several ...

via

Brightlight Productions Brightlight Leisure Productions Inc. is a Filipino television, film production company and talent agency headquartered in Quezon City. It was founded in 2020 by gaming businessman Albee Benitez who previously served as Negros Occidental's 3r ...

's '' Sunday 'Kada'' and

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

for '' First Yaya'' as Lorraine.

Filmography

Film

Television

Personal life

Medina married Timmy Llana on October 3, 2023, in Antipolo City. They have one child.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Medina, Maxine 1990 births Living people ABS-CBN people Actresses from Quezon City Binibining Pilipinas winners De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde alumni Filipino female models Filipino film actresses Filipino television actresses GMA Network (company) people Miss Universe 2016 contestants Models from Quezon City TV5 Network people