American doctor Mikhail “Doc Mike” Varshavski opened up about the brief time he dated Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, sharing that he experienced first-hand Filipino culture from their time together, and the “toxic” environment that she was moving in back then.
Varshavski, who was previously named by People magazine the “Sexiest Doctor Alive,” was interviewing Filipino-Canadian nurse and top content creator John dela Cruz, popularly known as Nurse John, for his YouTube channel when the topic of Wurtzbach came up as they were discussing the typical Filipino culture of giving support to fellowmen who made it big abroad, as well as the pressure that comes with it.
“It’s interesting that unlike what happened in some culture, there might be jealousy when someone succeeds, or hatred. It’s the opposite, almost feels like everyone is succeeding when that person [succeeds],” Varshavski said.
Nurse John, agreed, but warned that support is guarded by the same amount of pressure to “not mess up.”
“Absolutely, but there is also pressure that they put on us with being Filipino, which is the pressure of like, ‘you better do good.’ It’s almost like the Asian parent mindset of ‘Don’t (expletive) it up.’ And that pressure is so high that if we do something wrong, they can also scrutinise us,” he replied.
As an example, dela Cruz mentioned that this happened a lot in the field of pageantry, to which Varshavski replied that he’s “unfortunately pretty well versed” with it.
“You probably don’t know but I should share some of my history. I dated Pia Wurtzbach at the peak of her career,” Varshavski said. This, he said, made him feel he was part-Filipino as he got absorbed into the culture.
The American family doctor-content creator further agreed when Nurse John emphasised that while Wurtzbach was still the reigning queen, people would scrutinise everything she did at every stage of her pageant journey.
“I remember… [it was] very toxic,” said Varshavski.
“It’s almost to the fact that you are cancelling this person who is trying her best to represent our country because she is not doing what you think, or expect her to do. Which to me is crazy,” Nurse John further said of Filipino culture as equal parts supportive and full of negativity.
Wurtzbach, in March 2016, and well into her reign as Miss Universe, went on Facebook Live to categorically deny that she was dating someone, adding as she pointed to her sash that “this is the priority.”
The denial came as she was being linked at the time to Varshavski, whom she met at a small gathering in New York in February of that same year. After their first meeting, photos and clips of the two together circulated online, prompting fans to speculate that they were dating.
Back then, Varshavski already has a million-strong following on Instagram as “Dr. Mike,” a graduate of the New York Institute of Technology and also engaged in charity work and health promotion.
A month later, Wurtzbach would confirm in a television interview that she is dating Varshavski.
It was not immediately known if their dating ever blossomed into a full relationship, and what caused their breakup. – Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
