Miss Universe 1993 Dayanara Torres, who is making a showbiz comeback in the Philippines, talked about her early life on the morning talk show, Magandang Buhay.

While she would always watch beauty pageants, she never thought of joining one.

“[The] situation in my family was tough so it was a dream come true. So when somebody saw me, it was like a miracle because if that didn’t happen, I don’t think my family was able to actually put me through that kind of experience although they want it to but they couldn’t afford it,” Dayanara emotionally narrated.

She then said that joining and winning Miss Universe changed her life completely.

According to the Puerto Rican beauty queen-turned-actress, she used to live in the mountains, “From that to a completely different lifestyle and experience.”

“I won in Mexico City but when I finished, it could have been in any other country. I was just lucky that it was here,” she added, referring to the grand coronation of the said pageant that was held in Manila.

“All the opportunities, being in show business, I could never imagine. It’s been pretty my life… and ending up in the Philippines is pretty much a miracle,” Dayanara tearfully said.

After her reign, she willingly decided to accept different offers that extended her stay to five years.

It was her singing career in Puerto Rico that made her decide to go back to her home country.

“I started with my singing career and did the first album and it went great. And then I met the father of my sons (referring to former husband, singer Marc Anthony) and I got married. Once I got married and I had my first child, my life completely changed and I just wanted to be there every single step. I had my second child and that’s what I dedicated my life to, just raise them. After I got divorced, as a single mom, it’s tougher so once in a while, I would do a special project that was very important, meaningful. I wouldn’t just do anything because I wanted to be there in their lives, part of their lives all the time.”