Lalaine Edson OK in UK

Remember Lalaine Edson, the Filipino-English beauty reported to have been "kidnapped" by a foreigner-lover and forced into marriage after she represented the Philippines at the Miss World pageant in London in 1999? The "mystery" deepened when Lalaine failed to come home after the contest and several months later when she was expected to finally show up to relinquish her crown to her successor during the coronation night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Since then, no word was heard about Lalaine who briefly joined showbiz (as a GMA 7 talent) before she bagged the 1999 Bb. Pilipinas-World title.

The good news is that Lalaine is safe and sound and living happily ever after with her handsome husband (not clear if he’s the "foreigner-lover" reported to have "kidnapped" Lalaine) in foggy London.

"I met Lalaine during a Filipino barrio fiesta in London," reported Felix Manuel, one of Funfare’s four "beauty experts" (the three others being Joey Cezare, Gery Yumping and Francis Calubaquib) who’s working as a nurse in the United Kingdom. "Masaya si Lalaine sa London."

According to Felix, who’s here for a vacation ("Very ironic considering that the 2002 Miss World contest is now going on in London and I should be there!"), Lalaine still looked as beautiful as ever, doing some commercials and modelling in UK.

"She denied reports that she was kidnapped," said Felix, "and she said that neither was she forced into marriage by an old, rich man. She said she does miss the Philippines but she has no plans of coming home just yet nor continuing her rudely-interrupted showbiz career. Lalaine was shocked when I told her that her ‘disappearance’ after the Miss World contest created a big controversy in the Philippines. ‘It was blown out of proportion,’ she told me. ‘But it’s all over now. Tell my fans back in the Philippines that they have nothing to worry about. I’m OK in UK.’"

Felix has more juicy news about Pinoy achievers in the UK.

"The Miss Saigon UK tour continues to draw raves. The mostly-Pinoy cast, led by Leo Valdez (as The Engineer) and Joanna Ampil (as Kim), is currently in Edinburgh and drawing praises and accolades. They’re making Filipinos in UK very, very proud."

And here’s the Miss World update by the "beauty experts":

Ever since the Miss World Pageant started in 1951, it has always been hounded by controversies. The 52nd edition of the pageant is no exception. Actually, this may be considered the most controversial pageant ever. Originally slated to take place in Abuja, Nigeria, the pageant was moved to its original home, London, due to violent protests that took place weeks before the finals.

In a pageant that is supposed to promote peace and understanding among all people regardless of race, religion, culture and tradition, it is indeed disheartening to know that many lives were lost amidst the violence that erupted in Nigeria.

Last-minute preparations were done to accommodate the pageant in London, to be held at the Alexandra Palace and beamed to more than 90 countries. It will be hosted by American actor Sean Kanan and Britain’s own Clare Smith (1992 Miss World first-runnerup).

This year, the Miss World Organization introduced the SMS voting system which would definitely boost the chances of our delegate, Katherine Anne Ramos Manalo. The Philippines is considered the "text capital of the world." The amount of text messages sent here in one day is estimated to be the amount of text messages sent in the whole of Europe in a month!

It is not surprising that Katherine has garnered one-third of the total SMS votes as of this writing. She is followed by the delegates from Puerto Rico and Vietnam, respectively. There will be 20 semi-finalists this year (a first in any pageant history). What they haven’t announced is if the 20 will be narrowed to 10 or five from which two runners-up and the winner will be chosen.

Katherine is among the favorites in almost all pageant websites. Miss Norway Katherine Sorland has been picked as "Webmaster’s Choice" in the Global Beauties website. Another favorite is Miss Venezuela Gozeider Azua who, unlike her predecessors, did not undergo plastic surgery. Other strong bets are the candidates from Australia, China, Colombia, Curacao, England, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Russia, Scotland, Vietnam and Wales.

(Note: The 2002 Miss World pageant grand finals will be held tomorrow, Dec. 8, Manila time, to be covered "live" by RPN 9 from 8 to 11 a.m., with a replay the same day, 6 to 9 p.m. You can still text-vote for Katherine – send to 246 for Smart subscribers and to 2342 for Globe subscribers – until noon today. You can send as many votes as you can.)