Celeste Cortesi

Silvia Celeste Rabimbi Cortesi was born on December 15, 1997, in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines, to a Filipino mother, Maria Luisa Rabimbi, and an Italian father who was born in Venezuela. Her mother was from Camarines Sur, Bicol and was also of distant Spanish and Chinese descent. Her parents met at an Italian restaurant in Manila which her father owned and her mother worked at. Cortesi grew up in a multicultural household, exposed to both her Filipino and Italian ancestries.

Cortesi was initially brought up in a neighborhood in Pasay. When she was six months old, her family moved to Parma, Italy, where she spent most of her upbringing. After her father died of a heart attack when she was ten years old, her mother raised both her and her sister as a single parent. As a teenager, Cortesi worked as a model and store cashier in Parma. She would also join several pageants in secret, which her mother discovered and allowed as long as she maintained good grades in school.

Cortesi became interested in pursuing pageantry as a career and exploring her Filipino roots after being informed by her mother of Pia Wurtzbach's win representing the Philippines at Miss Universe 2015, and watching her performance during the event. At 18 years old, she was motivated by Wurtzbach's win to go into pageantry. She moved back to the Philippines in hopes of representing the country in Miss Universe despite only knowing her native Italian and not being fluent in English or Filipino; she eventually learned both languages her own. She stated that she faced discrimination in both Italy and the Philippines because of her heritage and upbringing. On February 10, 2023, Cortesi made her acting debut in the finale episode of Philippine superhero television series, Darna, as Queen Kevnar of Marte.

On July 20, 2023, she signed a contract with Sparkle GMA Artist Center, joining the roster of GMA Network's talents.