Catriona Gray and Nicole Cordoves make their own creative bubble: 2 Steps Back, and invite us all in for conversations on reality and more
Podcasters have quickly proven themselves to be among the most prominent voices in industry media today. The now firmly established medium of sound is a cultural force and defined by thinky, narrative storytellers. Once, their prominence depended on their ability to seize your attention by producing newsworthy or viral moments. But Catriona Gray and Nicole Cordoves have no interest in high-art legitimacy, or taking on the roles of lecturers or experts. All they want is to chat—and invite you in. In an antechamber of intimate moments, 2 Steps Back is a window into the “fun, crazy and sometimes messy realities of the modern woman.”
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Dusting Off The Glitter
Nicole Cordoves and Catriona Gray are two names that need little introduction. The former was crowned Binibining Pilipinas Grand International 2016, while the latter was hailed Miss Universe 2018. Since hanging up their sashes, they have successfully parlayed their crowns and fame into other creative pursuits: Nicole wields the microphone effortlessly on TV and events, and Catriona has ventured into designing and hosting as well. But though it was through pageantry that these two queens initially crossed paths, even sharing the main stage to host Binibining Pilipinas, Catriona and Nicole have become a we despite having no ceremonies and no rituals for when a long-term platonic commitment begins and ends.
As Catriona puts it, “We have had so many experiences that extend seven to eight years; we’ve traveled together internationally, we’ve grown up together, we’ve done life together—so to translate that into a medium of a podcast has been really, really fun, and a way for us to share what our sisterhood looks like.”
This duo created a listening hub for insightful anecdotes, a barrel-load of laughs to boot, and a healthy dose of varied and arrayed topics such as the triumphs, neuroses, shortcomings, pet peeves, and the growing pains of life called 2 Steps Back. Now, it might at first glance seem forbiddingly highbrow or intimidating given the usual length of podcasts and the glitter that surrounds the images these two friends have become known for. But it’s quite the opposite: they’re dusting off that glitter, and the obvious rapport and friendship between the co-hosts make it as accessible as podcasts come—Nicole and Catriona have perfected some kind of pas de deux that navigates the delicate line between humor and honesty, despite 2 Steps Back being their first try in the format.
Like Two Peas in a Podcast
Few co-hosts can equal each other’s energies and bounce off each other as easily as Catriona and Nicole do. It’s the authentic chemistry between the pair makes this podcast such an enjoyable and refreshing listen: packed with insights, interesting tidbits and hilarious digressions that reframe the conversation and get people to engage when they otherwise wouldn’t. Listening to this podcast is like sitting in on a conversation with friends.
“The perception of us as beauty queens is that we don’t have problems or struggles, but these are things we want to dispel and open up the conversation on,” Catriona tells MEGAStyle. “Hopefully, people get to know us in a different way—one that’s not curated or limited given through the other avenues that we share together.” She goes on to say that she’s grateful for the friendship she has with Nicole, and being able to do this together is one of the most fulfilling experiences of her life.
“In pageantry, Cat is exemplary in Q&A, at do’n ko na alam na same wavelength kami,” Nicole weighs in. “But our friendship blossomed into something deeper and more vulnerable. In pageants, it’s really hard to have authentic relationships, because in a way you’re maintaining a façade and you have a branding to take care of. Cat and I—we broke that glass wall. We’ve been able to articulate our thoughts and experiences better, especially now that years after, we’re at a place where we’re ready to be more fearless to talk about certain things. In pageants, the questions are initiated, and now we don’t have that platform anymore so we decided to create our own.”
In the Name of Passion and Sisterhood
Their new ‘platform’ or passion project is designed to foster conversations around evolving as individuals and the experiences that have marked their journeys along the way. There’s no script and no talking points—it’s relaxed, confessional, and sincere. Its hour-long episodes feel like listening to a voice memo your friend sent to you; and each unravels touching and deeply personal stories. Feel-good listening guaranteed.
“We didn’t come into it with the idea of it being a business talaga, it’s our brain baby,” Catriona proclaims. “Because my conversations with Nicole are so interesting—whether it’s life updates, or it’s about our doubts, our challenges, celebrations, and anything and everything in between. They’re so varied, and we were both searching for an avenue where we could share more of ourselves and also talk about topics that we don’t get the opportunity to speak on often.”
The 2 Steps Back co-host continues to say that while being in the public eye means that they’re given a space to air their opinions on certain matters such as in news, magazines, or in pageant groups, it’s always usually in limited capacity. Speaking about things in length, interjecting their opinions, and talking about shared interests—the podcast enables the duo to establish their voices louder and clearer.
As aforementioned, it’s a tennis game. Nicole laughs, “The only difficulty we have is that it’s so hard to shorten the videos because we both talk too much.”
Catriona agrees, laughing, and comments, “Madaldal kami pareho.”
“And another is trying not to scream so much!” Nicole adds.
“I was just about to say that!” Catriona says, and this just proves how well sync they are. “‘Yung audio levels namin talaga, nakakabingi na because our reactions are natural. When it comes to our natural banter and chemistry, that’s just something that comes organically because we have a real friendship—we weren’t just thrown in together in this podcast as colleagues. It’s really built on the foundation of our relationship. But whatever business opportunities lay ahead of us because of this passion project, we’ll be open to it.”
Pulling Back the Curtain Together
That podcasts are a compelling platform for public figures to be more “public” or open might initially sound counterintuitive. How could the medium of sound change how we see these distinguished names, and how can we relate to them when their lives are different from the average person’s?
2 Steps Back does not attempt to keep an image. Catriona and Nicole pull the curtain back and communicate why their voices also matter—whether that’s the history that informs their lives, the machinations of the broader picture that produces the moments that make them, or the simple or not-so-simple life walks that, surprise, Catriona and Nicole also experience.
We just haven’t been able to hear about them before. “When I was the reigning Miss Universe, I was the face of the brand,” Catriona shares with MEGAStyle. “I wasn’t going to dive-deep and tell-all about my personal life. Now, I’m ready to be more open and vulnerable to the audience, to be more accessible. Because I’ve always been an intentional creator when it comes to content or storytelling or utilizing my platform. There’s intentionality that comes in the podcast—it’s the most elaborate and long-formed content that I’ve ever explored—but it’s one I have full creative control over with Nicole. And that’s why I’m having so much fun with it…the way we’re able to connect with the audience through the podcast is a way that we haven’t been able to connect with them before.”
The podcast is intimate, as though Nicole and Catriona are speaking directly to you and not to their legions of listeners. It’s like a letter without the protection of an envelope, open and there for you to read. There’s space for you to write into as well—to join in.
“2 Steps Back is the most uncurated version of ourselves,” Nicole declares. “And that’s something we try to overcome—that anxiety in every episode, because we don’t know which way it’s going to go. We don’t have talk points.”
Nicole continues to share with MEGAStyle that in the first few episodes, there was a fear that maybe what they have produced might be too much for people to absorb, that they might say the wrong thing, but as the podcast progressed, the co-hosts gained more confidence because the feedback recognized the candid rawness of their conversation and the manner in which their audience could relate to the things said.
She adds, “Cat and I also made a pact from the beginning that we’re not going to be preachy. If we make a mistake, we can apologize, but we really made it our mindset that this is an open conversation. We really do not know everything about the topic, we do not need to be experts—we hope that by creating a community from this project, we get to invite more people into the conversation where they can actually contribute, because we learn so much from them.”
Catriona builds on that, saying, “On Instagram and Facebook, there’s only so much room for concise and short captions and limited interaction. 2 Steps Back opened up an avenue for us to have an ongoing conversation and ongoing connection with people.”
Gifts of the Gab
Among current chat-casts, many are unafraid of taboo topics. In a conservative country, Nicole and Catriona are not eager to court these topics, but they recognize the need and the urgency to do so. They’re not unafraid—as mentioned earlier, there’s a fear there of saying the wrong thing—but they’re willing to have the hard conversations. They’re brave enough to do it.
“The urgency is there because we’re in a curated time of social media. A highlight reel of our lives is posted—the achievements and the celebrations and the wins. And then it becomes very easy to compare yourself to people you look up to because you see their successes, whereas even though they mention the challenges or things they’ve overcome, it’s never really in-depth,” Catriona explains. “If they are, those opportunities are quite limited. Though both of us have received many comments that we don’t go through struggles or maybe they even look at our careers as hosts and even in pageantry as a walk in the park—when I was growing up, I haven’t yet fully grasped the realities of life, the insecurities that I was working through, and it was very easy to compare myself to others and feel like I’m falling short. So I think it’s encouraging to share a platform of these messy realities.”
They talk about anxiety, independence, rejections, failures, first paychecks, insecurities—a celebration of shortcomings and imperfections. “We’re not experts, we’re navigating life the same as everyone else,” Catriona continues. “It’s just that this podcast is an encouraging space to be, and I wish I had more of that growing up. Even if our audience is our age or younger—and maybe they just need a little nudge, a little advice, a little sisterly sermon, a little laugh to continue going about their day or whatever journey they’re on.”
“It’s a guide to life, it’s a podcast we wish we had when we were younger, when we were going through certain things,” Nicole finishes.
Finding Their Sound
While the co-hosts are familiar with the stage, the microphone, the runway, the cameras, navigating the technicalities of finding their sound was unfamiliar—yet not unwelcome—territory. Catriona tells MEGAStyle, “Equipment, setup, learning the best way to reach our audience…all of that is a continual learning process. Nicole and I are very hands-on: we brainstorm our topics together, Nicole edits the videos herself, and we look at every detail—from the graphics to the social media to the cute little jingle introduction to the live chat every premiere to our feedback avenue, Dear Cat & Nicole.”
On the content itself, Nicole reveals to MEGAStyle, “We talk about the topics, but we also branch out of our current experiences and consider the experiences of other people as well. It’s a more planned conversation together, and I get to learn so much about Cat’s insights, her family systems, her childhood, and how she grew up. Given that we ask the questions not usually asked in pageantry, the podcast allowed us to open up and tap into past experiences and emotions that we didn’t realize were there.”
2 Steps Back, aside from the main one-hour long episodes, also churn out mini-episodes: the podcast in a more bite-sized formula while preserving the caliber of the material that the one-hour episodes contain. The mini-episodes contain Nicole and Catriona’s shared interest: a book club. The third was a discussion forum on their top picks about faith and spirituality, a fruitful outcome that came from the podcast: “Doing this with Cat…I became closer again to God and more in touch with my faith because of her. So kung na-influence ako ng gano’n ni Cat, what more ‘yung mga listeners namin? We’ve become spiritual sisters, too,” Nicole shares.
On the book club, she said that doing the mini-episodes on their shared interest fulfills them because it encourages people to reignite a passion and go back to reading. “And for us, it’s more of—what do we do when we’re not working? Because we just usually post our work stuff, so reading is a form of rest. It’s kind of like an antithesis to the grind on social media that you have to always look productive and look like you’re doing something. So reading, for us, is a form that we get to relax and take two steps back,” she pointedly says, “and just allow us to be inspired by stories before we go back to the grind of the routinary work.”
“It’s wonderful to share interests that we don’t usually share in such an elongated capacity,” Catriona says, building off from her co-host, “and it allows us to connect to our audience more. Nagulat kami na natuwa ‘yung mga tao sa book picks and discussions namin so it’s a different way to bond, to create connections, and just deepen the sense of community we’re building.”
The Book Club, The Podcast, The Discussions—With Invitations Soon
Though 2 Steps Back is relatively new, it’s already earned a trending spot on Spotify as one of the top episodes a few days ago. This is just the beginning of what Catriona and Nicole aspire for their “brain baby,” they reveal to MEGAStyle that they plan on breaking through the digital barrier and hope to form face-to-face events with their growing community.
Creator-led in-person events aren’t new, it’s a way of fostering the intimacy and the camaraderie of host and listener being in a space together. Plus, a major undertone of the podcast is female friendships—real-life events can produce and cultivate that because the common interest is the podcast, which is a great jumping-off point for helping people meet other people. But as of now, the co-hosts tell MEGAStyle that while there are no detailed plans yet, the future is bright and exciting: “This is our first season: the first few episodes have been a learning experience, so as we go along, we want to form these plans,” Catriona says. “For our next season, we’re hoping to welcome guests and translate that to a live meet and greet with those guests and maybe a discussion.”
But if there’s one thing they’re sure of, it’s this: “But if ever na magkaka-event kami, it will definitely be the book club,” Nicole says.
“Yes, we’re really looking forward to having events like that with the audience in the form so we can get together with our community in person!” Catriona agrees.
“I really appreciate our book club because before, it was just Cat and I reading books together and tossing ideas—there was a time we solved a mystery together,” Nicole shares. “So it’s a really fun experience and I can’t wait to be able to do it with a bigger group of people over coffee—which can happen sometime soon.”
Catriona finishes, “We’re really hoping to realize these plans as we go forward with this passion project of ours.”
Photos and Featured Image: CATRIONA GRAY, NICOLE CORDOVES, 2 STEPS BACK (via Instagram)
