'Birthday ko?': Anne Curtis teases her Madame Tussauds statue could tour
MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) could get a chance to see Anne Curtis, rather her new wax figure, whether it's the host-actress' birthday or not.
Anne is the latest Filipino to officially have a statue of herself created by popular global attraction Madame Tussauds after Manny Pacquiao, Pia Wurtzbach, Catriona Gray, and Lea Salonga.
All the Filipino figures are housed in Madame Tussauds' Hong Kong (MTHK) branch except Lea's, which is in Singapore. Anne's will be joining the wax figures of Manny, Catriona and Pia by next week.
MTHK's Sales and Marketing Head BoBo Yu explained to Philstar.com after Anne's statue was unveiled on November 27 that catering to Filipinos is a key direction given the abundance of Filipino migrant workers and tourists in Hong Kong.
"We had like Pia for pageants and Manny for sports [so] we were thinking of something new," BoBo said. "In doing research, we look at what we want this time, a singer or maybe an actress and TV host. We found that Anne is quite up for it and for a lot of generations, she's beloved by everyone."
Adding to the global popularity of Anne is the viral clip of her during an "It's Showtime" episode where she mistakenly thought OFWs come home to the Philippines for her birthday, which she celebrates every February 17.
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"It's been a running joke for so long already na makakauwi [mga OFWs] sa birthday ko, but this time, ako naman ang pupunta sa kanila, lalo na sa Hong Kong," Anne told Philstar.com.
Anne's wax figure will be available for viewing at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong beginning December 9, which the host-actress acknowledged would be the "birthday" of her twin.
"December 9 na ang bagong holiday! And who knows, maybe she'll make rounds during my birthday," Anne teased.
BoBo explained that Anne's statue could tour anytime, similar to how Pia's did recently when it temporarily stayed in Singapore and Catriona's currently in Bangkok, coincidentally the city where she won her Miss Universe title in 2018.
"[There are] Madame Tussauds around the world so if any sister company is looking for someone, we can loan," BoBo added. "But when we really need to send the figure out somewhere else, we will for sure ask Anne if she's okay and aware of it."
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