MANILA — Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray shared on Thursday a “raw and real” moment after erupting in tears, shortly after she bid farewell to her parents, who are based in Australia.

Gray had been in the Australia since May 6 for a vacation, marking her reunion with her parents after a year and a half apart due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, Gray boarded her flight to return to the Philippines, where most of her work commitments are.

On Instagram, the beauty queen shared a photo of herself crying, captioned, “What saying goodbye looks like.”

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A post shared by Catriona Gray (@catriona_gray)

“When I said goodbye to my parents at the airport, underneath my mask I kept smiling. Although it trembled. I didn't want them to see. We hugged saying ‘see you soon’. But this pandemic makes a once easy thing such an uncertainty...when?...how? When will we be together again?” she wrote.

“I felt the emotions spilling over but didn't want them to see, so as I rounded the corner through the passenger terminal finally out of their sight, I let the tears come.”

Gray, an only child, was born in Cairns, Far North Queensland in Australia, to a Scottish-born Australian father, Ian Gray, and a Filipino mother, Normita Magnayon.

“I contemplated whether or not to post this. But this is something raw and real. I'm so grateful for the time I had with my family. And now it's back to counting down the days, the sunrises, the sleeps until we're together again,” she said.

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A post shared by Catriona Gray (@catriona_gray)

Addressing her followers, Gray added: “Please never take time with your family or loved ones for granted, so many of us wish to have that reality everyday.”

Gray has been based in the Philippines since 2011, when she moved here to pursue a career in modeling. During her Miss Universe reign, she resided in New York, after which she returned to the Philippines where she has since entered showbiz.

Gray is returning to the country in time for the pre-pageant activities of Binibining Pilipinas. She is set to co-host the pageant’s coronation night on July 11.