Tough competitors, intriguing personalities round up ‘Boracay Bodies’ cast

Ethel Booba and Krista Miller may have gotten the lion’s share of attention during the recent press conference that launched TV5’s newest primetime reality series, “Boracay Bodies”.

But that does not necessarily mean that they’re already the odds-on favorites to win the competition and won’t be facing stiff challenges from Luke Jickain, Joross Gamboa, Brent Javier, Wendy Valdez and Helga Krapf.



Following the program’s format, all contestants need to complete specific daytime tasks, party at night and gain points to help determine who wins and who loses each task.

At the show’s ultimate grand party, the last male and female contestant left standing will emerge as the Ultimate Party Boy and Ultimate Party Girl, who will take home P500,000 each courtesy of sponsor Boracay Rum.

As we already know a lot about Ethel and Krista, who both have been hogging headlines as of late, let’s take a look at the other contestants and see what they bring to the table.


JOROSS GAMBOA, ‘The Jester’
Outside of Ethel, Joross is the life of the party among the boys as he likes to make everyone laugh. No stranger to reality competitions, Joross was a member of the star-studded first batch of ABS-CBN’s “Star Circle Quest” that produced the likes of Roxanne Guinoo, Melissa Ricks, Michelle Madrigal, Sandara Park and the comebacking Hero Angeles.

And don’t let his clowning demeanor fool you, Joross is as serious as they come when it comes to his craft. Now a sought-after character actor, he won the Cinemalaya 2012 New Breed Best Supporting Actor award for “Intoy Syokoy ng Kalye Marino” and was recently in the cast of the John Lloyd Cruz-Sarah Geronimo romantic comedy blockbuster “It Takes A Man and A Woman”.


WENDY VALDEZ, ‘The Righteous’
Another reality show veteran, Wendy started out as the most hated housemate in the second season of “Pinoy Big Brother”.

Surprisingly, she managed to parlay her initial bad girl image to a third place finish on the show and even went on to headline her own teleserye, “Margarita” before finding her niche in supporting roles that showcases more of her range and depth.

Now a born-again Christian, the once feisty and sassy lady has mellowed down and exhibited a more pious attitude. As evidenced in most of her conversations with all of the cast members in this reality show, she would always preach the messages of the Lord through Bible verses to guide her co-actors to be morally upright. Hence, the title, “The Righteous”.


 HELGA KRAPF, ‘The Sweet Girl’
Not too many are aware of it, but Helga was also a part of the first batch of “Star Circle Quest” where she made it as far as the top 50. Since then, she has never been out of projects and in addition to sitcoms and teleseryes has appeared in the romantic comedies “Forever and a Day” and “I Won’t Last a Day Without You”.

Her sweet and naïve image on the show might actually work to her advantage as it would be a mistake for anyone to underestimate her, even as her fellow contestants consider her as the baby in the group.

Regardless of what happens to her on “Boracay Bodies”, making it as one of the contestants might just give her the career boost that she needs and may lead to the lead roles that has eluded her all throughout her nine years in the business.





Although he won prestigious competitions such as the Mossimo Bikini Summit and MTV Best Model of the World-Philippines Manhunt and was a finalist for the MTV VJ Hunt batch won by Kat Alano, Andi Manzano and Sib Sibulo, Brent said his inability to speak Tagalog well has somewhat stalled his showbiz career.

He also attributed his laying low for a relationship that lasted for five and a half years. But now that that’s over and done with, Brent is ready to pick up where he left off and “Boracay Bodies” just might be the ideal starting point to resume his career.

Still regarded as one of the country’s most beautiful and sexiest men, what makes him more attractive is his quiet and reserved personality — something that could propel him to win this competition.


VICTOR SILAYAN, ‘The Lover Boy’
The grandson of the late, great actor Vic Silayan and the nephew of late beauty queen Chat Silayan, Victor is one of TV5’s Primetime Princes and best known as Eula Caballero’s love interest in “The Sisters” and “Third Eye”.

His boy-next-door looks, quiet and accommodating charm and gentlemanly demeanor make him similar to Brent except Victor seems to be more fun-loving and easygoing and has a propensity to try out just about anything.

Although he chose Wendy as the hottest among the girls during the press conference, Joross suggested that something seems to be brewing between her and Krista. Whether that will help or hurt his chances in the competition remains to be seen.


Brother of model-turned-chef Martin Jickain, Luke is a Filipino-French model who has branched out into acting in recent years, having appeared in the teleseryes “Maria La Del Barrio” and in “Imortal” as an uncredited vampire.

A man of literally few words, Luke’s quiet and sometimes brooding persona may come off as too serious.

That seems to have changed on “Boracay Bodies” as has shown that among all the others, he had the strongest desire to understand the members of their group. During the tense moments, it was always he who acted as the peacemaker and showed a willingness to sacrifice himself in order to help his group members.

“Boracay Bodies” airs every Saturday at 9PM on TV5 starting April 6.

source: interaksyon.com

Ethel Booba rules out return to ‘Wowowillie’, reconciliation with Willie Revillame

Out of “Wowowillie” but certainly not off the air for long, controversial comedienne Ethel Booba leads the cast of TV5’s new reality competition series, “Boracay Bodies”.

The show will premiere on Saturday, April 6, at 9PM and takes over the reality show timeslot that once belonged to “Artista Academy”, “The Amazing Race Philippines” and, most recently, “Kanta Pilipinas”.

To be hosted by Phoemela Baranda, “Boracay Bodies” also features Wendy Valdez, Victor Silayan, Helga Krapf, Joross Gamboa, Luke Jickain, Brent Javier and the equally controversial Krista Miller as Ethel’s fellow competitors.

Not surprisingly, Ethel fielded the most number of questions from the media during the press conference on Tuesday night.

Dubbed in the show as “The Diva”, Ethel said she’s more than happy to be cast in “Boracay Bodies” where she will get a chance to be more herself and show more of her competitive spirit.

The questions, however, immediately shifted to her controversial departure from “Wowowillie” as Ethel was once again asked if she was willing to reconcile with Willie Revillame and come back to the noontime show.

“Kahit anong mangyari, mahal na mahal ko ‘yun,” she said in reference to Willie. “Sobra lang sigurong lalim ng friendship namin kaya siguro naging kampante kami sa isa’t isa. Pero wala na, hindi na. Malabo na kaming magkabati nun.”

Ethel confessed that she really wanted to quit pronto when Willie jokingly blamed her on the air for the two power failures that marred the premiere broadcast of “Wowowillie” last January 26.

“Sabi niya, ‘Malas ka talaga’. Nasaktan ako dun. Gusto ko siyang sapakin nun. Alam naman niya na madali akong mapikon at totoo, madalas akong na-o-offend sa mga biro niya,” she admitted. “Halos everyday, umiiyak ako.”

Ethel said she also got hurt when Willie said that he helped get her career back on track considering that it was she who also helped Willie when he was down. “Sabi niya, tinulungan niya akong makabalik. Look who’s talking. Para namang hindi ko din siya natulungan noon,” she said.





Be that as it may, Ethel said she was able to take all of that and reported to the show like a good soldier. “Sa lahat ng mga naging shows ko, sa kanya lang ako hindi na-late. Never na nangyari ‘yun nung nandun ako sa show niya,” she noted.

The last straw, however, came during that fateful day of February 28 when Willie publicly berated both Ethel and Ate Gay shortly after the two lost in a costume contest won by choreographer Anna Feliciano.

“Nagalit sila dahil hindi sila nanalo sa costume… Ang lalaki na ng ulo n’yo!.. If you want to resign right now, go! Hindi ko kayo pipigilan,” Willie said.

According to Ethel, that’s not what really happened. Contrary to what was earlier reported, she did not storm into Willie’s dressing room and raised her voice to vehemently complain about the contest.

“Hindi ko siya sinugod sa dressing room niya. Siya ‘yung nagpunta sa dressing room namin, wala pa nga siyang shirt nung pumasok siya. Ang sinabi ko lang sa kanya tungkol sa contest na ‘yun, eh kausapin niya si Ate Gay at umiiyak, nagtatampo sa result,” she recalled.

Ethel did complain to Willie about something else: a joke he earlier made about the skimpy costume she wore for the contest in which he was trying to bait her into saying something against Anne Curtis, one of the hosts of rival noontime show, “Showtime”.

“Sabi nya, ‘gusto mong gayahin si Anne Curtis, gusto mo ring magpakita ng singit’ so nasabi ko, ‘We’re talking about talent, not singit’. Tapos nun, pinutakte na ko sa text at Twitter ng mga fans ni Anne, nagagalit na sa kin,” she revealed.

“Nung sinabi ko sa kanya ‘yun, sabi niya sa ‘kin, ‘Sige wag kang mag-alala, akong bahala, ipagtatanggol kita’. Akala ko, totoong kaibigan ko siya.”

To her surprise, Willie said something else on the air going as far as questioning their sense of gratitude and reminding them who’s the boss: “Mag-isip kayo dahil ako ang nagpapasuweldo sa inyo!” he blurted out.

“Nung sinabi niya yung salitang ‘kayo’, pati ako nadamay na so nasaktan ako dun. Nakita at alam ni Ate Gay at ng mga PA (production assistants) ang totoong nangyari dun,” Ethel further pointed out.

The bottom line, according to the outspoken comedienne, is this: “Babae ako, lalaki siya,” suggesting that he should have treated her with more respect than what she had to endure during the short time she was on “Wowowillie”.

Even though the jokes were made in the spirit of fun, Ethel apparently was not very pleased that it often came at her expense.

As for Ate Gay telling a different story in his own interviews and eventually coming back to the show, Ethel said she understood where the gay comedian is coming from.

“Sabi ni Ate Gay, ‘Ikaw naman kahit hindi magtrabaho okay lang, ako kailangan ko ito’. Naintindihan ko yun, kung may Allan K ang ‘Eat Bulaga’ at may Vice Ganda naman sa ‘Showtime’, gusto din naman niyang magkaroon ng ganoong following, so siya naman sa show ni Willie,” she said.

Since she left the show, Ethel admitted that she continues to receive feelers from Willie’s camp about reconciling their differences and even possibly returning to the show.

“Mga mga text from people na malalapit sa kanya. Hindi naman ite-text ‘yun kung walang approval niya so I think alam kong alam niya ‘yun,” she surmised.

Still, she had already made up her mind about not returning and, at least for now, not reconciling with Willie. But after all is said and done, Ethel said she continues to consider Willie a dear friend.

“Kaya ko lang naman nasasabi ang mga bagay na ito ngayon at sa mga tweets ko kasi nga, may pinaghuhugutan. Masyadong malalim ang friendship namin. Siguro, masyado lang siyang na-spoiled kaya naging ganun siya,” she concluded.

source: interaksyon.com

A Reality Series Finds Silicon Valley Cringing

SAN FRANCISCO — Silicon Valley is finally getting the treatment once reserved for rowdy housewives and excitable chefs: its own Bravo reality series. But the tech world is not quite ready for its close-up.

When details about the show, tentatively titled “Silicon Valley,” first seeped out, many here were offended, saying it would trivialize the difficult and important work being done in the valley. “Yuck, please stay in LA,” Kevin Rose, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, messaged his million-plus Twitter followers.

The valley may be even more upset when it sees how well the final product captures the raucous reality of the tech industry in 2012.

The series, which is now being filmed and is scheduled to be broadcast this winter, shows hard-partying youngsters vying to start companies in a frenzy reminiscent of the dot-com peak of 2000. It is a world where everyone seems to think that a good idea can lead to instant success and untold riches, because, after all, it has so many times before. It is a place where you feel like a failure if only one investor offers to finance you, instead of many begging to get in.

“Silicon Valley” the show was in part inspired by “The Social Network,” the 2010 film about the founding of Facebook. Silicon Valley the place did not like “The Social Network” because the film said Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook as a way to impress girls instead of changing the world.

The fact that Mr. Zuckerberg’s sister Randi is an executive producer of the series has therefore rankled. Ms. Zuckerberg, an executive at Facebook until last summer, declined to be interviewed, but defended her show on Facebook. “Inspiring more people to pursue an entrepreneurial American dream can only be a good thing,” she wrote.

Not everyone agrees. One former Facebook colleague of Ms. Zuckerberg’s took to Twitter to say she was “terrified” that the series would turn Silicon Valley “into a laughingstock of an industry.”

“Trust me, enough people in this industry make laughingstocks of themselves,” Ms. Zuckerberg replied. “We’re just capturing reality!”

As the cameras rolled the other day, Ben and Hermione Way, a photogenic brother-and-sister team from England, discussed the $500,000 they got to develop a fitness app. “Four noes and one yes,” Ben said, sadly. “Not exactly people throwing money at us.” He added that he developed the idea for the business while drinking in a bar.

In another scene, at a sleek office where budding entrepreneurs rent cubicles, Kim Taylor described her start-up as based on personalized content in the luxury market for women. It is a little undefined, even to Ms. Taylor, who came here two years ago from Chicago. But then, her start-up is only a few days old.

“This is something I’m figuring out in real time,” she told her mentor, explaining that she has no background in either coding or product development, traditional paths to success in the valley.

The show first floated into consciousness last fall with a Craigslist posting by a casting director. “As long as you’re living life in the fast lane, we want to hear from you,” it said. But it was a brief trailer, released by Bravo in April, that really set people off.

One line, delivered by Ms. Taylor, seemed to provoke special ire: “Silicon Valley is high school, but it’s only the smart kids and everyone has a lot of money.” (Later, she qualified her remarks on Twitter. “Apologies that I said Silicon Valley was like high school. I meant middle school.”)

Denunciation was swift — on Twitter, Facebook and blogs.

“On behalf of all the entrepreneurs who’ve risked it all to build something, I am offended,” wrote Francisco Dao, the founder of 50 Kings, a private community for technology and media innovators. One blog put it like this: “The Horror of Reality Television Comes to Silicon Valley.”

Frances Berwick, Bravo’s president, said that despite the provisional title, the series was not intended to capture the mood of the entire valley or depict the humdrum aspects of reality. “In the editing process, we try to get rid of everything that is going to be a snooze,” she said.

The valley has generally been forbidding territory for Hollywood, at least until “The Social Network.” “We’re so bland,” said Jamis MacNiven, whose restaurant Buck’s is a popular valley gathering point. “People spend their weekends taking out last year’s incredibly energy-efficient bulb and screwing in this year’s even more energy-efficient bulb. No one ever dresses up except at the Burning Man festival, where they take off their clothes.”

Before Ms. Taylor signed on to the show, she was working at a local media company that developed Facebook ads. The other cast members include the Ways; Dwight Crow, who started Carsabi, a Web site for selling used cars, in a Mountain View apartment that is messy enough to qualify as a toxic waste zone; and David Murray, who is developing a weight loss app (“In a really successful scenario I have a million active users by the end of the year”).

The barriers to starting an Internet company have never been lower. Technology is cheap. All but the most important jobs can be outsourced, saving on costs ranging from salaries to office space.

Only the idea counts. When it goes viral, the company can quickly be worth hundreds of millions if not more. Yammer, a social network for companies, started in late 2008. Last month it was sold to Microsoft for $1.2 billion, and no one batted an eye.

“If you’re a first-time entrepreneur, this is a phenomenal time,” said Zaw Thet, a successful entrepreneur who is an adviser to Ms. Taylor.

The Ways are skilled enough in media to have been contemplating their own reality show before Bravo came along. They know what it takes. Listen to Mr. Way working out with their trainer in front of the cameras, and you can hear the reality show buttons being pushed:

“The thing about Silicon Valley is it forgives failure — but not as many times as we’ve failed.”

“I can’t believe how many entrepreneurs commit suicide.”

“Last night, there were like four of my ex-girlfriends in the house — and I’ve only been here a year.”

Their house is a $17,000-a-month crash pad with an outdoor pool — very unusual for chilly San Francisco — and three levels of decks from which to admire the excellent view. If you divide by the five roommates, Mr. Way said, it is not so much money.

To defray expenses, his sister sold $50 tickets to her birthday party. She also lined up sponsorships for the villa from a potato chip company and a coconut water supplier. The house has its own Twitter feed, which it uses to promote the chips. In Silicon Valley, the opportunities to be an entrepreneur never stop.

source: nytimes.com