Now on its fourth show, Mrs. Universe Australia, which will be held on the 21st of October 2022, at Doltone House Jones Bay Wharf, Marites Novis, as the Mrs. Universe Australia’s current Pageant Director, along with the whole team of MFN Productions are set on a quest to discover the world’s ‘most outstanding married woman looking to make a difference and leave a mark on the world’.

Let’s find out a bit about the candidates!

Erica T. Hanna (Ballarat, VIC)

Erica is a proud mother to an active toddler and a well-rounded professional international model, having worked as a former independent film and TV commercial actress.

Erica has taken the fashion and film industry in both Australia and the Philippines by storm, extending her skills with fashion creatives in Singapore also.

Erica also has a sincere and dedicated passion for her children’s entertainment business, Royal Fairytales – Ballarat Fairytale Parties and Kids Entertainment, where she is able to share her creative flare and performs as Disney-inspired princesses.

A venture that has blossomed through her unmatched acting skills and gone on to inspire many families.

Not only does Erica run her own business, she is also an alumni of the pioneer batch of Master of Creative Arts graduates from Deakin University in Melbourne.

Erica is an advocate for both individuals and families suffering from domestic violence, illnesses and poverty, extending her benevolence to struggling artists and creatives who are wanting to discover their full potential.

Nikita Bhatt

Nikita is a driven candidate who enjoys spending time with her loving family, including her gorgeous daughter, socialising, swimming and dancing, and Nikita notes that any spare time she gets, she spends by the water on the beach.

Nikita is a highly driven professional with eight years of experience in Healthcare. Nikita is a true believer in positive influence and strives to make a meaningful difference in her community.

True to her earth sign Virgo, Nikita is compassionate, loyal, analytical, kind and hardworking with a deep sense of humanity. She supports a noble charity called Streethearts . community help. The charity is a group of people from diverse backgrounds concerned for the health and welfare of members of the community, struggling with isolation due to homelessness, mental illness, loneliness and poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, relationship breakdowns, victims of violence and domestic violence, and abandonment.

Being at the centre of Nikita’s community passion, she fundraises and volunteers her time and resources to a noble charity to help those in the community who have fallen on hard times.

Ghia Larela Man (Blacktown, NSW)

Ghia is a motivated candidate who is a full time Executive Assistant at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Ghia is an entrepreneur, advocate and above all else – a Supermum. This fierce woman has a son diagnosed with Autism Apectrum Disorder (ASD) and is challenging herself to achieve more for her family whilst also pursuing her own personal goals and dreams. She is experienced in pageants and even dabbled in modelling during her university days.

She joins us on her pageant journey to take the opportunity to raise awareness about the wide range of disabilities that people may experience, often suffering in silence and foregoing seeking treatment for their conditions due to stigma.

Ghia hopes that with community support, we can make a big difference, touch the lives of others in a positive way and also enrich our society by accepting the wonderful differences that we all have.

Thi Tu Linh Bui (Braybrook, VIC)

Thi Tu Linh Bui is a Melbourne based Beautician & Trainer who loves travelling, singing, dancing and anything beauty related.

Linh Bui has decided to compete in Mrs Universe Australia as she always strives to challenge herself and escape her comfort zone.

This is the first time that she has entered a competition such as this so she views the whole experience as a valuable learning curve.

Linh Bui considers it to be an incredible honour to be the face and voice of the Mrs Universe Australia brand, and with this great honour comes a great responsibility of inspiring and empowering women everywhere.

She believes women are created to be feminine yet firm, vulnerable yet valiant. If crowned Mrs Universe Australia, she intends to spread the message that every woman deserves to be loved and be successful.

If crowned Mrs Universe Australia, Linh Bui wants to show the world that her confidence defines who she is, not her looks, wealth, or upbringing nor her flaws. She believes high self-esteem is the sexiest accessory a modern woman can carry.

Nikka Marcial (Bexley, NSW)

Nikka is a loving Mother, a happy wife, an advocate and a woman of faith. This 34-year-old career woman holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and is currently employed as a full-time document controller/quality assurance officer for a leading engineering consultancy firm. She is also a certified real estate consultant and investor.

Nikka is not new to beauty pageants – she holds the title of Miss Puerto Princesa City 2005 and was crowned Mutya ng Palawan 2006. In her younger years, she was into runway modeling and fashion endorsement.

From a young age, Nikka has been an advocate for accessible education for everyone. She and her family have donated their time and resources to different charity organisations, including The Lingap Pangarap ng mga Paslit Foundation, for almost 10 years. Disadvantaged families and children have been assisted with proper resources, livelihood, education and health assistance.

This has made Nikka’s life mission — to provide guiding principles for the future generation, and to give back to the community.

A busy career woman, juggling among her own business, looking after her family and working full time, Nikka enjoys making gourmet desserts for her loved ones in her spare time. She also indulges in event styling as a way to express her creativity beautifully with passion.

Casey Nato (Elwood, VIC)

Casey Nato is so honoured to be a national finalist of Mrs Universe Australia 2022.

A Mum and an entrepreneur, Casey considers her daughters, Louisa and Luis as her greatest blessings. She loves spending quality time with her family – getting outdoors and living life to the max.

Casey started joining beauty pageants in her teens – and has modelled on the catwalk for many acclaimed Filipino designers.

She also participated in Filipino teleserye as an artist in Magkaribal and Banana Split to name a few.

Casey is the reigning Face of Australia Melbourne Flores De Mayo 2021.

She is a volunteer/active member of I.M.B.A (Ikaw.Muna.Bago.Ako), an organisation reaching out yearly during the Christmas season to share joy, gifts and love to Children Living with HIV, Dumagat Tribe, Tahanang Walang Hagdan.

Casey’s plan is to reach out to other mothers and women to encourage them to develop positive feelings about their own bodies and in turn, be a role model for our children, with a platform of “I can do more”.

She commits to being a resource that all women can share a connection with. Casey is so excited to be part of the amazing Mrs Universe Australia organisation and pageant.

Casey considers it a blessing to be able to connect with so many inspirational women!

Chantelle O’Donohoe (Sydney, NSW)

Chantelle is a Community Engagement Officer at the NSW State Emergency Services & STEM Educator for Indigenous Australian communities.

Volunteering is her main hobby and ultimate passion. Throughout the past couple of years, she has donated over 2500 hours of her time to various Australian charities.

She has also enjoyed participating in modelling and pageantry over the past decade.

Chantelle enjoys challenging herself and growing from her experiences, she sees the Mrs Universe Australia competition as the ultimate challenge for her as she is able to confront some of her biggest fears whilst simultaneously working toward one of her personal goals of competing in the prestigious Mrs Universe Australia pageant.

Chantelle is also the first Aboriginal woman to compete within this system and so she wishes to share her absolute best self, her admiration for culture, her passion for self-growth and also to create lifelong friendships with extraordinary, strong and inspirational women.

Her greatest goal is to participate within the Mrs Universe Official competition to represent her Indigenous culture on an International platform.

Chantelle feels that she is the ultimate example of a modern woman – she has excelled within her career and fields of study (including being voted as one of the Top 25 Australians contributing to Social Impact in the annual Pro Bono Australia Impact! Awards).

She is a proud mother and wife, and continuously challenges herself by facing her public speaking fears as an Event MC and also within the emergency services where she regularly faces her fears to achieve a greater goal and safety for her community.

Cindy Ha Nguyen (Five Dock, NSW)

Cindy Ha Nguyen is a proud mum, keen sportswoman, volunteer and career woman living in Petersham, Sydney.

Cindy has more than 18 years’ experience in property management and a proven sales record globally.

Cindy’s background is Vietnamese, and she speaks fluent Vietnamese and English.

She is committed to helping those who are disadvantaged in her hometown and has done so since graduating from high school in 2003 until the present day.

Cindy loves yoga, ballroom dancing and all other sport activities with her boys, David and Brian.

Cindy is new to the world of pageantry and has chosen to challenge herself by joining the Mrs Universe Australia 2022 pageant.

She is excited to make friends and learn from all of the inspirational women from all over Australia who are competing in the pageant.

Cindy is looking forward to sharing her passion for self-growth, positivity, charity work and creating lifelong friendships.

Sophia Sarkis (Sydney, NSW)

Sophia is a Mother, business owner and human rights advocate.

She was born in Myanmar and came to Australia 28 years ago.

Sophia has been married 18 years and has three children. Her and her husband are also the proud owners and operators of RJS Aluminium.

She is also very passionate about community work, and has hosted events raising funds for National Breast Cancer Foundation, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and the Ronald McDonald House Charities Australia.

In December 2021, Sophia hosted a black-tie gala dinner which raised more than $150,000 for Humanitarian Assistance and medical aid for the people of Myanmar.

About The Producer: Marites Novis

Meet Marites Idea Novis, the woman of the hour who walks the talk with wit, grace, glamour, and passion. She is the mind behind four powerhouse organizations who are headlining on each of its respective fields: Qfirst Property Investment Group (Real Estate), MFN Productions (Show and events Productions), MNOVIS (Women’s Fashion), and Mrs. Universe Australia (pageantry).

Qfirst Property Investment Group, the real estate she founded, has remained on top of its game by providing top notch services in providing its clients the ability to settle on the best property. Because of this, Qfirst Property Investment Group has continuously remained as one of the most successful emerging real estate firms on nearly every financial metric that counts in Sydney Australia.

Aside from Real Estate business, our woman of the hour also ventures on the entertainment side by producing and sponsoring shows. In fact, she is the Founder of MFN Productions, the team behind some of Australia’s most notable fashion shows and events that featured Hollywood and International Fashion Designer Rocky Gathercole, co-produced Ms. World Australia in 2019, and produced QFIRST HOMES LAUNCH: FASHION 2020 at The Royal Randwick.

Now on its fourth show, Mrs. Universe Australia, which will be held on the 21st of October 2022, at Doltone House Jones Bay Wharf, Marites Novis, as the Mrs. Universe Australia’s current Pageant Director,  along with the whole team of MFN Productions are set on a quest to discover the world’s ‘most outstanding married woman looking to make a difference and leave a mark on the world’.

And being the unstoppable entrepreneur that she is, she has also recently launched her very own clothing line ‘MNOVIS’, a Sydney-based store that caters to all the fashion needs of women, different occasions, and for all seasons. She has also acquired an Australia-based franchise of the two of the most in-demand Women Apparel brands ‘Plains & Prints’ and ‘Kamiseta’. An inspiration woman for women, indeed. These two frontrow brands will be featured on the runway during the Mrs. Universe Australia pageant night.

Marites Novis,with a force of more than a decade of experiences and obtained skills, was recognized in several award-giving bodies such as Forbes, giving her the title of ‘Outstanding Woman of Style & Businesswoman of the Year’ and was documented by several publications such as ‘Behind the Brands’ and F magazine.

In September 2020, Marites added another feather to her hat as she bagged the ‘Business Person of the Year’ at the same year’s Blacktown Business Awards. It was double the honor as Qfirst Property Investment Group also took home the ‘Outstanding Real Estate Agency’.

Just recently, August 2021, another accolade was added under Marites’ name as she was celebrated as the Filipino-Australian Achiever Awardee by the Philippine Community Council of New South Wales during the 2021 FILCCA  National Awards.

Be it in the real estate industry or in the show production fashion scene, she is one true force to be reckoned with. The mind behind Qfirst Property Investment Group, MFN Productions, Mrs. Universe Australia, and MNOVIS Clothing line,  she is Marites Novis.

Get your tickets to the event here!