Marian Rivera, who emerged on top of FHM Philippines’ 100 Sexiest Women in the World for 2013, says she owes her triumph to her many fans and supporters who voted for her. The actress, who first clinched the spot in 2008, had gotten a total of 890,490 votes out of the over 16 million that were gathered during the 65-day polling period.

“Nakakataba ng puso bilang five years ago na kasi 'yung dati ko, Marimar [2008] days pa ‘yon. Ngayon, I’m back!” the bubbly actress was quoted by PEP.ph as saying during the press conference held for the upcoming FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World Victory Party on July 10. “Kaya nga sa pagkakataong ito, sabi ko, thankful ako at blessed ako dahil narinig ko kung ilang votes ang mayroon ako. Kaya sa lahat ng bumoto sa akin, para sa kanilang lahat ito (It’s very heartwarming because the last time I earned the top spot was five years ago, during my Marimar days. Now, I’m back! So this time, I’m thankful and I feel blessed because I heard how many votes I received. So to everyone who voted for me, this is for you.).”

Marian, who also appeared on the magazine’s cover for the first time for its January 2013 issue, also said that she never expected to nab the top spot this year.

“Wala akong inaasahan,” she said. “Sabi ko nga, hindi mo naman masasabi kung magna-number one ka o hindi, e. Depende ‘yan sa pagboto ng mga tao sa ’yo. Ako, nag-cover ako sa FHM, ibinoto ako ng mga taong nagmamahal sa akin, so sila ang dahilan siguro kaya ako nag-number one (I wasn’t expecting anything. Like I said, you can’t really say if you’ll be number one or not. It depends on how the people will vote for you. I landed on FHM’s cover, the people who loved me voted for me, so they are the reason why I became number one.).”

Coming after Marian were Sam Pinto, who was number one for 2011 and 2012, with 778,681 votes; and 2005 and 2010 topnotcher Angel Locsin, who garnered 752,864 votes. Rounding up the top 10 are Jennylyn Mercado, Cristine Reyes, Solenn Heussaff, Ellen Adarna, Anne Curtis, Jackie Rice, and Empress Schuck.

(Photo by Mike Dee)