“[There’s] no issue between us as individuals or even between other queens,” Gray said in an interview, according to ABS-CBN. “It’s just really unfortunate that other people are craving issues and comparisons, and kind of putting us at war with each other when, in reality, there’s no such thing.”

Gray emphasized that while Miss Universe titleholders may not always express it publicly, they support and celebrate one another behind the scenes. She added that social media behavior—such as not liking posts—shouldn’t be used to stir up false narratives.

“It’s completely false,” she said. “I would encourage them to really ask themselves why they feel like the need to continue fueling negatively positioned commentaries.”

“Because I don’t think that’s what pageantry is about,” she continued. “Pageantry is about celebrating and lifting up each other.”

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach. Photo from Wurtzbach’s Instagram

Speculation about tension between the two queens has persisted for years, including a claim that Wurtzbach was allegedly unsupportive of Gray’s 2018 Miss Universe win out of feeling “threatened.”

Gray, 31, won Miss World Philippines 2016 and finished as a top five finalist in Miss World that same year before going on to win Miss Universe in 2018.

Wurtzbach, 36, won Binibining Pilipinas in 2015 on her third attempt, earning the right to represent the Philippines in that year’s Miss Universe pageant.

They are two of the four Filipinas to have won the Miss Universe crown, along with Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Margie Moran in 1973.