Miss Earth 2004 Priscilla Meirelles has divorced her husband, actor John Estrada, she announced on a talk show on February 13, citing diverging interests and values.

Having hailed from Brazil, the model said she had the right to divorce her husband in the country, where it is legal. She began the process two years ago, in 2024.

“We’re no longer married. Which means, bilang isang foreigner, may karapatan ako to divorce my husband. So last year, I went to Brazil and I started the process of divorcing him. Actually, not last year, 2024, bago actually mag-guest ako dito. I already went to Brazil, and I didn’t announce to anyone because ayoko nang magsalita ng mga bagay na (na)patunayan,” she said in an interview on Fast Talk With Boy Abunda.

“So I wanted to be ready that when I open my mouth, it’s a fact,” she added.

Priscilla shared that John was saddened by the move. She believed he never thought she was serious about divorcing him.

“He was not happy. Actually, the first sentence he said, ‘Pri, bakit ginawa mo ‘yan?’ And sinasabi ko sa kanya, ‘As I’ve told you, I don’t see myself sharing a life with you anymore and I don’t think that there is any reason to stay married to you if I don’t see myself with you as my partner, as my companion. I don’t see a future with you,” she narrated.

“I got married to him because I saw a future. I wanted to build something with him. And we did build something to a certain time, but a lot of things happened and our interests are not aligned anymore, our values are not aligned anymore, the things that we look forward to are not aligned anymore. We’re just sharing a home,” she told Boy Abunda.

Priscilla said she and John had tried various avenues toward reconciliation, even couples therapy, but none worked for them. Fundamentally, they differed in what they wanted: she wanted a whole family, and he wanted to have fun.

“I’ve warned him many times, and I tried so many ways—I tried to fight him, I tried to be quiet. I tried so many things to save the marriage. I tried to go to the church. We went to a psychiatrist, we went to couples therapy. I did a lot … I wanted to save my family and he was having fun mag-isa."

The beauty queen revealed that she wanted to preserve their family for their daughter, as she herself did not have a whole family growing up.

“Kasi wala akong buong pamilya noong lumalaki. So I wanted to give my daughter… something that I did not have. That’s where I’m coming from, and ginagawa ko until 13 years old siya. So when I came to agreement with myself that, ‘Okay, I’ve done my best, she was able to experience what I haven’t. Now I just have to make the best of this situation,” Priscilla said, adding that she also divorced John for her daughter, to teach her daughter that she shouldn’t stay with someone who didn’t treat her right.

“In the end of the day, I also did that for my daughter. Because babae ‘yung anak ko. I need to be a good example to her. And being in a situation where you’re aligning yourself to be not treated the right way. I cannot let that normalize for her, because that might become her life in the future,” she explained. Her daughter, she said, wanted her to do what would make her happiest.

Priscilla also told Boy Abunda that her husband was not faithful, and she didn’t want to “share her bed with the whole barangay.”

“Ang dami sila, e, hindi lang third lang. Fourth, fifth, sixth, buong barangay ata. I’m always laughing about it because John has always had a very colorful life and a lot of people say that, ‘Ang tanga-tanga niya (Priscilla),’ dahil alam niya ‘yung past niya (John). He came from a marriage that failed because there is a third party, and things like that,” she said.

Priscilla said she fought to save the marriage for 14 years, until such a time that she felt she couldn’t give more of herself, having been drained by the ordeal.

“I fought for 14 years and it got to the point when hindi ko na kaya, and I realized after a lot of things that happened, that the best thing for me is really to move forward mag-isa,” she said.

Now that she and John have separated, she is finally happy again.

“I’ve regained my peace of mind, ‘yung happiness ko is back and I’m so confident about so many things and I really feel that ‘yung bagong taon, bagong buhay ko,” she shared.

In a separate interview, John referred to Priscilla as the “love of my life.” He said he would like to remarry her once he’s faced his “demons.”

“If and when Pri and I fix what needs to be fixed, I would be willing to remarry her if she wants to,” he said.