MANILA—Call him a modern-day Professor Higgins, but in a way, that’s what kinesiologist John Jay Cuay is.
In three months, he transformed Shamcey Supsup from a slim but well-proportioned Bb. Pilipinas-Universe into stunning Ms Universe finalist that everyone thought would bag the crown.
She was dazzling in her gown, and stunning in her bikini, showing off wash-board flat abs, a muscled-and-well-toned body to die for.
Cuay, a US licensed physical therapist, described it as the “muscled but feminine, va-va-voom body, that’s the modern Ms Universe physique.” Supsup ended 3rd runner-up, but to Cuay and her countrymen, she’s Ms Universe in their hearts.
When he first met her, she was a newly crowned Bb. Pilipinas and the country’s contender in the prestigious Ms Universe beauty pageant.
He found her “slim in a well-proportioned way, but lacking muscles in the hips and upper back, so those were the problem areas.”
Cuay, a fitness trainer at Gold’s Gym, was no stranger to the Bb. Pilipinas winners.
In 2006, he helped Bb. Pilipinas Universe Lian Ramos prepare for the Ms Universe pageant in Los Angeles.
Ramos stunned the audience with her “va-va-voom” body and was even an early favorite. She did not make it to the finals, though.
In 2007, Cuay also trained aspirant Anna Theresa Licaros for the Bb. Pilipinas contest.
In five months, Licaros lost as much as 30 pounds. She had a 24-inch waistline when she won the crown in April that year.
And last year, Venus Raj came under Cuay’s tutelage.
By that time, Cuay had become the official fitness trainer for the Bb Pilipinas winners. Inquirer