PHOTO: Mister Croatia Bruno Is Just A Regular Guy

New Mister Croatia Bruno Oreskovic recalled his life story for Javno. He has the support of former girlfriend Maja Lena Lopatny.

Bruno Oreskovic, the new Mister Croatia, stirred wind from the word go with his photos published on Facebook, featuring him and a friend in an embrace. The media declared him a homosexual, criminal and started scrutinising his life.

Take a loo at the attached photo gallery: Mister Croatia Bruno With Maja Lena Lopatny.

Maja Lena Lopatny, his former girlfriend and daughter of Croatian actress Mia Begovic and waterpolo player Ronald Lopatny, defended his honour.

- Bruno is a good and nice lad, we were dating briefly, for a few months a few years ago. I met him as a tough guy, a Bad Blue Boy [Dinamo FC supporter], but an exceptionally nice lad with a big heart – Maja Lena told us. Mister Croatia was her first boyfriend.

She always saw Bruno as a nice boy with good grades and according to her, Bruno always had girls on his tail.

- He was a regular Don Juan, never rough, he never hit women – Maja Lena concluded and touched on the former Mister Croatia Dino Bubicic.

- They wrote all sorts of things about Dino, that he was gay, that he was a drug dealer, but in the end, he turned out to be a normal and hard-working man. As far as Bruno is concerned, I think he is intelligent enough not to do anything stupid – the famous Croatian actress` daughter said, who is still good friends with Bruno Oreskovic.

Just a few weeks before applying for the Mister Croatia pageant, Bruno broke up with girlfriend Andrea after two years of dating. According to him, he is still in love with her and loves her very much. Andrea Grbavac (20) did not wish to address the media.

- The love between me and Andrea has not ended, at least on my part, and it will not for a long time, but we are too young for such a serious relationship. We are now at a turning point in our lives and our relationship lasted almost two years – Bruno Oreskovic said.

He pointed out that he never hoped of such a media attack on him: he is not gay and according to him, the Facebook status was just a joke.

It`s not that I love to fight, I got into a fight a few times, every time with a reason. No real guy would leave a friend in trouble.

Bruno on fighting

- Everyone is in a relationship with someone on Facebook and my friend and I decided to turn it into a joke – Bruno said.

Family tragedy is a private matter

Bruno says he is a normal guy from Keglic [a neighbourhood in Zagreb].

- Bruno is just a normal guy who is young and acts accordingly. I am not perfect, actually nobody`s perfect – I have had my sins and will have some more I suppose. I love enjoying life, I love adrenalin – Bruno told us.

As a 10-year-old Bruno was struck by a serious family tragedy when his 15-year-old sister Doris died at the Stubicke Toplice spa centre. As the outer swimming pool was being drained at 18 hours, even though the centre was supposed to have been opened until 19 hours and little Doris was pulled into the draining canal and drowned. Bruno was with Doris in the children`s pool, where the water was up to their waist. The siblings` mother was having coffee with a friend at a terrace some 20 metres away from the pool. Their father was changing into his clothes only a few metres away and when he returned, Doris was gone. They looked for her, but she vanished. The police took them to identify the little girl`s body at 3 a.m. Four spa staff members were sentenced to only some 30 months in prison put together.

Bruno and his family had a hard time dealing with the loss of their daughter and sister. Bruno saw doctors and psychologists who helped him get through the tragedy.

- I don`t want to talk about the tragedy which hit my family ten years ago. I am aware that everyone will want to open up old wounds now, it always hurts when old wounds are opened, but we are a family and we stick together – we don`t let anything hurt us. This is a personal matter that concerns me and my family. I hope the media will respect our decision. With the whole case against the four Stubicke Toplice staff members, Croatia has again showed that it is not a law-based state – Bruno concluded.

Bruno is also a big Dinamo FC fan. He frequently attends matches with his friends, always from the Northern stalls of the Maksimir stadium.

- If I could choose between the Mister Croatia title and the possibility of playing just one match in Dinamo`s kit, I`d go with the later. I adore Dinamo and my favourite player of all time is Zvonimir Boban – the new Mister Croatia said.

After the initial writings in the papers, Bruno called former Mister Croatia Dino Bubicic and asked him for advice.

- Bubi gave me some advice and it has helped me quite a lot. He told me to stay away from scandals, to be smart and always ask for help of those who have already been though this and will help me any way they can.

If I were the president…

Bruno does not have a police record, even though he was in many fights with his friends. However, he never hazed anyone.

- It`s not that I love to fight, I got into a fight a few times, every time with a reason. No real guy would leave a friend in trouble – Oreskovic said.

If he were the president, Bruno would change the Smoking ban law, because many caterers and families were left without any work as this law was introduced.