Joyce Has Stayed True to Herself

Hi lovers. I'm excited for this season and to meet all of you! This has been a crazy roller coaster. There were ups and downs, but overall it was a fantastic experience and I'm proud to represent my fellow Latinos in Beverly Hills.

Regarding my tag line: Frankly I'm not a big fan of the Beverly Hills attitude. . .In Beverly Hills they say you can never be too young, too thin, or too rich. I think it's sadly superficial, but at least I wanted to add for our Beverly Hills girls that honesty is the most important and I'm not a $100 bill for everyone to like -- but at least I stayed true to myself.

I've experienced the world of pageants, the world of modeling and now the world of Beverly Hills... These worlds are judgmental, often trivial and sadly reduce people to their appearances.

My true mantra, the line I wanted and the line that perfectly represents how I've always felt is: Beauty is only skin deep, it's whats in your heart that matters.

Since this is the first time we all meet, I want you all to know that I'm not just a "pageant girl." I know they say once a pageant girl always a pageant girl. Pageants were an amazing platform that gave a little girl like me from the mountains of my beautiful Puerto Rico a chance to travel, explore the world, meet amazing people, work for great charities and be a voice to empower women wherever I went. For all those things I am grateful. Especially because one of the biggest honors in my life has been to be able to represent my gorgeous island.

But I must be very clear in one thing. . .Being a pageant girl is not who I am or what defines me.

I WAS proudly a pageant girl some 15 years ago. I AM an actress, a producer, a philanthropist, a wife, and above all a mommy to my beautiful babies, Leonardo and Valentino.

Because of my "history" with pageants I created an international charity based pageant that benefits UNESCO called Queen of the Universe (QueenUniversePageant.com).

I wanted to give young ladies the opportunity to have a platform like I did, regardless if they are single, married, divorced, or have children. I always wondered why was it that if a girl had a baby at a young age she was no longer "qualified" to be a queen when a baby is the biggest blessing in the world. In my pageant we don't judge our girls based on the fact that they are married or their gender choices. . .

The only important thing is that I want all the girls to have a charity platform or a charity ambition. I want them to use the voice that's been given to them and the platform to help their peers.

Now. . .let's get to the juicy stuff you are all waiting for. . .

I won't be one of those girls that says she never watched the show before being on it because the reality is I did watch it and I loved it!

That being said. . .I told myself "Joyce -- leave all the preconceived ideas you have of who these ladies are and really go meet them with an open heart." And so I did. . .

Since we are only talking about the first episode I will break down what I thought of the girls one by one...

1. Kyle: Thank God I gave myself the chance to meet her with an open heart because I really do like her. Had I come in with what I thought I knew of her as an audience member we would have never developed the friendship we have.

2. Kim: Kim is so much fun and has a great heart!

3. Lisa: So gorgeous! She is such a classy, elegant, stunning lady!

4. Brandi: So tall and beautiful. We had a mutual acquaintance so I thought I would really like her.

5. Yolanda: Simply stunning and welcoming.

6. Carlton: I loved her rock star style!

All of this was just a first impression. I must say I normally like everyone at first because I do give people the benefit of the doubt, and I always try to see the best in everyone until they prove me wrong. A LOT of these opinions have changed through the course of show and I'm just as anxious as you guys are to watch it. To be quite honest; I'm a bit nervous to watch after watching the first episode, because there are things that if shown in context you (the audience) can understand it better.

I do want to clarify something about Carlton because I do like her, and she and I both know where our relationship stands. I am a very open person as are you. . .lighten up about the "visual" of my hubby's BIG pipi LOL. One very important thing to clarify is I was not making fun of the babies' names. I did think they were unique and very different and I still think that. I'm sure a lot of people will have the same reaction -- but I would never "f---" with babies or their names.

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One thing is for sure. . .There's A LOT of drama in this group of Beverly Hills girls.

Until next time.
Xo
Joyce