Ariana Varela

Asia Beauty Queen 2011

Miss Asia USA 2010

Ariana's mother, Lana Manibog Varela, and her aunt, Lisa Manibog Brennan, were both Miss Monterey Park title holders and were in the Miss California U.S.A. Pageants, and Aunt Lisa Manibog went on to win the Miss Philippines U.S.A. and Miss Philippine International in Manila, which propelled her to the Miss International Pageant in Japan in 1983. Her cousin, Francel Manibog Caracol, was also Miss Monterey Park, and eventually, won a runner up position in the Miss World Beauty Pageant in London in 1986.

Ariana's mother, Lana Manibog Varela, and her aunt, Lisa Manibog Brennan, were both Miss Monterey Park title holders and were in the Miss California U.S.A. Pageants, and Aunt Lisa Manibog went on to win the Miss Philippines U.S.A. and Miss Philippine International in Manila, which propelled her to the Miss International Pageant in Japan in 1983. Her cousin, Francel Manibog Caracol, was also Miss Monterey Park, and eventually, won a runner up position in the Miss World Beauty Pageant in London in 1986.

Grandpa Monty was an Olympic wrestler and the first Filipino mayor to be elected in the U.S. Ariana was national tap-dance champion three years in a row before she turned ten and shares her family's natural love of music, island culture, rhythm and heritage (Costa Rican from her father, as well as Filipino, Spanish and French), and all communities have pridefully claimed her as their own.

Varela's very first pageant, she absolutely had no prior experience in pageants, and she swept the title over the other Asian country representatives from across the U.S. for Miss Asia U.S.A. 2010.

It's not a surprise that Ariana is very smart: 'Potential means nothing without the desire and the drive to actually achieve something with it,' she says. 'I feel blessed to have so many cultures in my background.' Valera is in her 2nd year of pre-law and her gown was designed by superstar designer Joey Galon.