Nikki de Moura is back in Cagayan de Oro for her homecoming parade after winning the first-ever Miss Grand Philippines pageant.

The Filipina-Brazilian beauty queen is glad that her hard work paid off, and is hoping to win the country's first golden crown in Miss Grand International.

• Cagayan de Oro's Nikki De Moura wins first Miss Grand Philippines pageant

"I trained so hard, I was working so hard to get that [Miss Grand Philippines] crown. And to see that it finally paid off means a lot to me," she said Monday during a program for her homecoming event, which was streamed on the Miss Grand Philippines Facebook page.

"My priority is really winning that golden crown and making Cagayan de Oro proud... I hope to be the first one [to win Miss Grand International]," she added.

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De Moura will compete in this year's Miss Grand International, which will be held in Vietnam on October 25.

She said she will focus on her pasarela in training for the pageant.

"You can expect me to do a lot of pasarela training because Miss Grand is actually more about performing. So I'll really be doing that," she said. "And of course, Q&A sessions."

When asked why she opted to represent the Philippines despite being half-Brazilian, she replied: "As I said earlier, there's no Filipina winner yet [in Miss Grand International] and I would love to be the first one. And despite me being half-Brazilian, I consider myself 100% Filipina."

Prior to her Miss Grand Philippines stint, De Moura won the Miss Teen Philippines title in 2019.

The Philippines has yet to win a Miss Grand International crown. Two candidates have so far finished first runner-up: Nicole Cordoves in 2016 and Samantha Bernardo in 2020/2021.