Miriam Redito Quiambao-Roberto (, born May 20, 1975) is a Filipina actress, television host, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Binibining Pilipinas Universe 1999 and placed first runner-up at

Miss Universe 1999 Miss Universe 1999 was the 48th Miss Universe pageant, held on 26 May 1999 at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago. Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana was crowned by Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago at the e ...

. She is currently one of the co-hosts of ''The 700 Club Asia''

Early life

Miriam Redito Quiambao was born on May 20, 1975, 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 ...

to Medgardo Quiambao of Bacacay, Albay, and Magdalena (''née'' Redito) of Oas, Albay, and is the first of two children. She attended the School of the Holy Spirit of Quezon City during her elementary and high school years and went for her collegiate studies at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

, where she obtained her degree in

Physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

. She is also a licensed physical therapist for the state of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

in the United States. Before Binibining Pilipinas, Quiambao had a career as a therapist for St. Luke's Hospital in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. She also worked as an instructor for a local gym.

Pageantry

Binibining Pilipinas 1999

Quiambao entered Binibining Pilipinas 1999, and won the title. She won several awards, including Miss Photogenic. When Binibining Pilipinas Universe titleholder Janelle Bautista lost her title to a citizenship issue, Quiambao took over and became the Philippine representative to

in Trinidad and Tobago. Lalaine Edson took on Quiambao's previous Binibining Pilipinas 1999 title.

Miss Universe 1999

Quiambao competed at Miss Universe 1999 reaching first Runner-up, with

Mpule Kwelagobe Mpule Keneilwe Kwelagobe (born 14 November 1979) is a Motswana investor, businesswoman, model, and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1999. She was the first black African woman to win one of the Big Four international beauty pageants, ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

winning the title. At the semi-finals, she reached second overall in the swimsuit and evening gown competitions. She won the

Clairol Clairol is the American personal care-product division of company Wella, specializing in hair coloring and hair care. Clairol was founded in 1931 by Americans Joan Gelb and her husband Lawrence M. Gelb, with business partner and lifelong frien ...

Herbal Essences Herbal Essences is a brand of hair care products line by Procter & Gamble. The brand was founded in 1971 as the single shampoo Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo (officially typeset as ''Clairol herbal essence shampoo''). There are 29 collections of ...

Style Award.

Television and film

After Miss Universe 1999, Quiambao began working as a TV host/correspondent for

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), ...

in the Philippines. In December 1999, she co-hosted ''

Unang Hirit () is a Philippine television news broadcasting and talk show broadcast by GMA Network. Originally hosted by Ryan Agoncillo, Lyn Ching-Pascual, Arnold Clavio, Suzi Entrata, Mickey Ferriols, and Miriam Quiambao, it premiered on December 6, ...

'' with

Arnold Clavio Arnold Clavio (; born November 2, 1965), also known as Igan, is a Filipino radio and television newscaster, journalist, and television host. He currently co-anchors GMA Network's morning show ''Unang Hirit'', and DZBB-AM, DZBB's morning radio ...

, Lyn Ching-Pascual, Suzi Entrata-Abrera, Mickey Ferriols and

Ryan Agoncillo Kristoffer Lou "Ryan" Gonzales Agoncillo (; born April 10, 1979) is a Filipino actor, model, host, musician, and photographer. Career Modelling and hosting Agoncillo started as a model at the age of 15, beginning as one of the early Penshoppe's ...

. Quiambao hosted a lifestyle segment of the show called ''Istayl''. In 2002, Quiambao appeared in a Mister Donut Twist commercial, where she reprised her fall at Miss Universe 1999. She joined

Paolo Bediones Paolo Antonio Barba Bediones (born March 17, 1974) is a Filipino television host, newscaster, Radio personality, radio commentator and occasional actor. Bediones started his career as a commercial model, and later transitioned to television s ...

as a host on ''Extra, Extra'', which eventually evolved into a reality program called ''

Extra Challenge ''Extra Challenge'' formerly ''Extra, Extra'' is a Philippine television news magazine and reality competition show broadcast by GMA Network. Originally hosted by Karen Davila and Paolo Bediones, it premiered on February 15, 1999, on the netw ...

''. She briefly hosted ''All About You'', a show about women and good values, and fulfilled her dream of having her own talk show. In 2006, she presented a travel show, '' Pinoy Meets World'' with Paolo Bediones. In the same year, Quiambao co-hosted the show ''Palaban'' on GMA 7 with Winnie Monsod and Malou Mangahas tackling

current events News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

socio-economic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analys ...

and

political issue Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies politi ...

s in the Philippines. In 2007, she also hosted for QTV 11's ''Dahil Sa Iyong Paglisan'', a made for TV show highlighting the experiences, trials and success of

Overseas Filipino Workers Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a term often used to refer to Filipino migrant workers, people with Filipino citizenship who reside in another country for a limited period of employment. The number of these workers was roughly 1.77 million ...

. During the first anniversary of ''

100% Pinoy! ''100% Pinoy!'' () is a Philippine television news magazine show broadcast by GMA Network. Originally hosted by Kara David, Raffy Tima, Pia Arcangel, Rhea Santos and Ivan Mayrina, it premiered on July 5, 2006. The show concluded on September 25 ...

'', she was one of the new hosts with Joaquin Valdez. She was also the co-host for '' The Beat'' (formerly Sapulso) on QTV with journalist/newscaster

Ivan Mayrina Ivan Ramesis Perez Mayrina (born December 23, 1976) is a Filipino broadcaster, journalist, reporter and news anchor. He is currently working in GMA Network. Early life Mayrina hails from Angeles City in the province of Pampanga and is current ...

. In the second half of 2009, Quiambao appeared in a Philippine horror movie '' Patient X'' as Nurse Betty, and the comedy movie '' Kimmy Dora'' as Gertrude. She also appeared on television through the TV series '' Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo'' as Aludra, the guest villain for the series. In 2011, she played Josie/Alonah in the fantasy series '' Bangis'' on TV5. She played Maxene in the sitcom '' The Jose and Wally Show Starring Vic Sotto''. In that same year, she had a cameo role as

's boss in the movie ''House Husband: Ikaw Na!''. In 2023, she is one of the co-hosts of ''The 700 Club Asia''.

Controversy

Quiambao was criticized by the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

community in the Philippines in early 2012 over her remarks about homosexuality on the current affairs talk show '' The Bottomline with Boy Abunda''. She said on a Twitter post, "Homosexuality is not a sin but it is a lie from the devil." This caused a huge backlash with openly gay Filipino celebrities, with the rest of the entertainment industry criticizing her for such a "closed-minded" statement. She has since apologized for "not being sensitive" on a Twitter.

Personal life

In January 2004, she married Italian businessman Claudio Rondinelli, and lived in Hong Kong. Their marriage ended in divorce in 2006, with Quiambao returning to the Philippines. In 2013, she became engaged to Eduardo "Ardy" Roberto Jr., a Christian author and motivational speaker. They were married on March 25, 2014, and have two children, and one from Roberto's previous marriage. While pregnant, she was diagnosed with

Antiphospholipid syndrome Antiphospholipid syndrome, or antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS or APLS), is an autoimmune, hypercoagulable state caused by antiphospholipid antibodies. APS can lead to blood clots (thrombosis) in both arteries and veins, pregnancy-relate ...

. Quiambao's autobiography, ''He Can Catch You When You Fall'', was published in 2015. In 2022, the family settled in

Boracay Boracay (; sometimes shortened by non-natives as Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay, Panay Island. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of thre ...

. The couple celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary on March 24, 2024, before Pastor Joby Soriano at The Palms Country Club in

Alabang Alabang () is a barangay in Muntinlupa, Philippines. At one time, the area was a farming district and has since grown from a village to a major commercial center, including Filinvest City, Madrigal Business Park, and a transportation hub. It ...

, Muntinlupa. Quiambao had an

asymmetrical Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry (the property of an object being invariant to a transformation, such as reflection). Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract systems and it may be displayed in pre ...

wedding gown, while Roberto was in his off-white coat and white shirt.

Awards

* Most Outstanding Bicolana Award, Ibalong 1999 * Most Outstanding Alumna Award, UST 1999 * Millennium Men and Women Award, Evian 1999 * Clairol Herbal Essences Award, Miss Universe Pageant 1999 * First Runner-up, Miss Universe 1999 * Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 1999

Filmography

Film

Television

References

Notes

''Quiambao was originally Binibining Pilipinas-World, but became Binibining Pilipinas-Universe after the titleholder, Janelle Bautista, was dethroned''

External links

Quiambao's Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quiambao, Miriam 1975 births Bicolano actors Binibining Pilipinas winners Filipino film actresses Filipino television journalists Living people Miss Universe 1999 contestants GMA Network (company) people GMA Integrated News and Public Affairs people Models from Quezon City University of Santo Tomas alumni Filipino women television journalists Filipino television actresses Actresses from Quezon City