Megan wears a MAX MARA coat, TIFFANY & CO. Lock Ring with Pavé Diamonds, Lock ring in White Gold. Photo by Shaira Luna
Who is Megan Young now? In the decade since she was crowned Miss World, she’s built something of her own.
As soon as I saw a Pikachu plush toy behind Megan Young, I knew I was in for an interesting midweek conversation. She paused halfway through the interview to fix it as the Pokemon character fell down from the table, then proceeded to talk about her relationship with the character and one of her brothers. Apparently, every time a new Pokemon game gets released, they always get both versions to split between them. Gaming has been their form of bonding since they were young, and this hobby was something that she carried well into adulthood. It became one of her favorite ways to unwind after a long, busy day.
Her current gaming preferences? “I like farming games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, the chill ones to relax my brain from all the contracts I have to read and content that we need to produce during the day.”
Later on, an opportunity to monetize this hobby presented itself, and in 2019, she found herself streaming in front of her millions of social media followers. “At first it was just for fun, but opportunities came in for streaming. Pre-pandemic, I was playing Ragnarok mobile and then I met my guildmates there who apparently, one of them was the previous country manager of Twitch. Sabi niya, bakit hindi mo i-try? Wala naman mawawala (He said, why don’t you give it a try? You’re not gonna lose anything),” she said. Thus, Megan the streamer was born.
Known to her followers and the gaming community as “Boneezy” or “Boneezy Gaming,” this is just one of the many crowns that Young carries along with being an actress, host, producer, podcaster, media personality, and a beauty queen—a title that brings with it heavy expectations and an idea of “perfection.”
In a pageant-loving country such as the Philippines, there is immense pressure to perform well given that a lot of eyes would be watching. “People have always been telling me to join pageants since I joined StarStruck, but I didn’t know what pageants were at that time. I didn’t know what a beauty pageant was until they started asking me about it,” she said. Although Young was a pageantry novice when she joined Miss World Philippines, the increased public attention wasn’t new as she had been in the limelight for years.
With her line of work and years of experience, she was able to combine all of her learnings together with a degree in filmmaking. In such a fast paced industry that adapts to the demands of a very digital world, a lot can change through the years. Gone were the days that celebrities and personalities were boxed into a singular facet of the industry. There are now a lot of ways for them to express themselves and develop their craft, with social media and audiovisual sharing platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify being utilized as tools for artistic expression.
She acknowledged that it’s an entirely different industry now from when she entered, and that it would be even more different in the years to come. However, this doesn’t faze her. She likes getting challenged and this constant strive for growth has motivated her to continue. “When the industry changes, I’m excited to change along with it,” she said.
This competitive spirit could be traced back to her roots as a gamer wherein when she’s in the zone, she admitted that she could be quite scary. “I’ve been told multiple times by friends that ‘uy pag nasa work mode ka nakakatakot ka’ (when you’re in work mode, you’re scary) but it’s really just me being serious.”
On the contrary, her personality outside of work was something that she described as very laid back and chill. If she were to describe herself, the short answer would be: “Megan loves life.” She drinks coffee—preferably black—every single day, not for its energizing purpose but rather for its taste. She can barely get through a TV series and has to have her husband remind her to watch a new episode lest she forgets. She likes different kinds of music—from pop to rap to R&B to KPop—and credits MTV and MYX’s Daily Top 10 for this diverse range. She’s not keen on material things; however, she makes an exception for one: concert tickets. In a moment of fangirl venting, she talked about the stress of securing seats to an upcoming show. “Kanina ni-release yung ticket prices for the Seventeen concert and everybody wants to watch but they only have three cities, I think, for this ‘Follow To’ Asia tour. There’s like a pre-sale and everything, ayun lang nakaka-stress.” (They just released the ticket prices for the Seventeen concert and everybody wants to watch but they only have three cities, I think, for this Follow To Asia tour. There’s like a pre-sale and everything, it’s stressful.)
As she shared more about her interests and what she does during her down time, her husband Mikael Daez opened the door to introduce two key household figures who wanted to join the interview: their dogs. “This is Soba and Chia, they’re toy poodles. Soba is 4, and Chia is 1 and a half years old.”
Having been with Daez for more than a decade, and tying the knot back in 2020, their relationship has constantly been called picturesque and “couple goals” by their fans. This urged them to create their podcast, Behind Relationship Goals, wherein they talk about common relationship problems, what people don’t see behind the scenes, and other personal experiences through the years. They don’t claim to be experts and they aren’t here to show people that they’re a perfect couple—something, in fact, that they debunked in a recent video. They’re just here to give advice through the stories that they share, in the hope that it could provide even a bit of help and clarity to the listeners.
This podcast isn’t their only joint venture though; their relationship has evolved into a partnership on and off the screen. Beyond starring in GMA’s recent teleserye (television drama) “Royal Blood,” they have been active collaborators on the digital content that they produce and have recently made an investment to further its growth. She shared, “My husband and I are building a studio right now for our content, and like an office for us because for the longest time we have been doing everything in our house. We decided it was time to invest so we can later produce on a larger scale.”
This is Megan Young’s new empire, its foothold set in the virtual realm but felt as real as anything else—actress, host, producer, podcaster, media personality, beauty queen, gamer, and at the core of it, a human being. “Everything that I do adds up to who Megan is. Kahit na 10% na lang yung time ko for gaming now (Even though I only have 10% of my time now for gaming), it’s a part of my routine that helps me relax. Right now, I’m passionate about producing, telling stories and exploring the new world of digital media and what it’s capable of.”
Photographs by Shaira Luna. Beauty Editor: Joyce Oreña. Fashion Director: Pam Quiñones. Introduction: Audrey Carpio. Stylists: Neil de Guzman, Steven Coralde. Makeup: Gery Peñaso, Jelly Eugenio, Zidjian Paul. Hair: Brent Sales, Dale Mallari, Nelly Tolentino. Nails: Extraordinail. Talents: Catriona Gray, Megan Young, Melanie Marquez, Michelle Dee, R’Bonney Gabriel. Art Director: Jann Pascua. Production Design: Justine Arcega-Bumanlag. Producers: Bianca Zaragoza, Anz Hizon. Multimedia Artist: Tinkerbell Poblete. Photographer’s Assistant: Emelito Lansangan. Stylist’s Assistants: Chelsy Estrada, Em Liesel, Geno Espidol. Production Assistant: Patricia Co. Makeup Assistants: Jannine Bance, Jelly Dy, Shua Alcantara. Hair Assistant: Rommel Hermoso. Production Design Assistants: John Amon, Jeber Cunanan, Mario Taipen, Olderico Bondoc, Rodel Bondoc. Interns: Dominique Tan, Jilliane Santos, Sofia Ante. Shot on location at The Penthouse at Twenty-Four Seven McKinley. Special thanks to B&B Italia Manila and Focus Global Inc.
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