PH’s Kenneth Marcelino is Mister Cosmopolitan 2025 1st runner-up

September 8 ------ Kenneth Marcelino has posted the Philippines’ highest placement in the Mister Cosmopolitan contest when he finished second in the competition.

The makeup artist from Laguna and proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community was proclaimed first runner-up at the end of the competition held at Siam Fantasy at the Asiatique Riverfront in Bangkok, Thailand. This was higher than the second runner-up finish of Ivan Ignacio at the inaugural staging of the international male competition in 2023. Last year’s delegate Emerson Gomez was in the semifinals.

Marcelino came in strong the moment he set foot in Thailand, with many pageant observers predicting a Top 5 finish for the Filipino contender, some even placing him on top of the leaderboard. But he settled for second place after the dust settled, with Taiwan’s Shawn Lin Yu Hsiang succeeding last year’s winner Daryl Ng from Singapore. The new king also topped the online voting with 38.51 percent of the total votes cast.

Marcelino had earlier claimed the Best in National Costume award at the preliminary competition held on Friday, Sept. 5, with his “Diwata” costume by renowned designer Patrick Isorena that is inspired by the fantasy series “Encanadia Chronicles: Sang’gre.”

Finishing third overall in the competition was another heavy favorite, Sandile Christo Gama from South Africa. Vietnamese bet Dinh Sy Tu was third runner-up, while France’s Eddie Joblon was fourth runner-up. Eighteen participants from different countries and territories around the world took part in this year’s edition of the Mister Cosmopolitan contest, the third installment of the international male tilt.

Marcelino earned the right to represent the Philippines in the Mister Cosmopolitan contest by finishing as second runner-up in the 2025 Mister Pilipinas Worldwide competition held in April. His batchmate and namesake, Kenneth Cabungcal, was fourth runner-up in the 2025 Mister Supranational pageant in Poland, while Jordan San Juan from the 2024 batch was third runner-up in the 2025 Manhunt International search The Mister Pilipinas Worldwide contest is mounted by Empire Philippines, the same team behind the Miss Universe Philippines pageant.

Source: inquirer.net