In spite of himself, TV host and senator-wannabe Willie Revillame is close to three of his four children, each of whom has a different mother.

He has three daughters and only one son. The daughters are actor Meryll Soriano, Marimonte Shanelle Viduya and Louise Anne (whose maternal surname Revillame has not revealed). He hasn’t seen her for some years now, though Revillame has met her before, and he is aware that the daughter was attending college at De La Salle University in Manila.

His only son is Juan Emannuel “Juamee” Revillame. The young man, now 19 years old, is the only who one who uses “Revillame” as legal surname because the TV host-producer was married for three years (2005-2008) to the young man’s mother, beauty queen Liz Almoro. Their marriage was annulled, and Almoro went on to marry then-actor Victor Aliwalas in 2014. Juamee, born in 2005, was already a young boy at that time.

The TV host-producer recently allowed his son to be interviewed by Jojo Gabinete for his column in the entertainment website PEP.ph. It seems to be the first and only interview with media that Revillame allowed for his son who lives with his mother. Their conversation seemed to have been a brief one.

“I have no plans at all of entering showbiz. Ang focus ko lang po ngayon ay ang aking pag-aaral at pagtulong sa mga Pilipino, kasama po ang tatay ko (I am focusing on my studies right now and on helping fellow Filipinos, together with my father),” the young Revillame declared to Gabinete.

When asked what trait of his father he believes he has inherited, the son replied:

“I think I inherited his ways of being organized, well-prepared and always in order. As simple as making my bed every morning. It has gone a long way for me. It helps me stay consistent with having a routine and productive schedule every day.”

The young man is in his second year in Entrepreneurship at DLSU in Manila. He revealed that the most important “aral sa buhay” (lesson in life) that he has so far learned from his father is: “To help others because they need it more than us.

“I have been privileged and blessed my whole life, but I’m very thankful of our experiences together, dahil po (because) it keeps me grounded and motivated to help people in need.”

The son quickly added, though, about his father: “Definitely, hard work ang (is his) biggest influence niya sa akin (on me).

“He came from nothing and to see him still prioritize others when he could be enjoying life is what inspires me to live with purpose and meaning.”

The young Revillame celebrated his 19th birthday (30 October) by holding a party for youth with cancer and children with cancer who are patients of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City on 31 October.

He confided: “I chose to spend my birthday with cancer patients dahil po malapit sa puso ko ang mga kababayan ko (because they are close to my heart, the people) who are suffering from this illness.

“May mga kamag-anak po ako na nagkaroon ng cancer at sana po, ang pagbisita namin ay nakapagbigay sa kanila kahit kaunting saya, tulong at pag-asa (I have relatives who had cancer so I hope our visit gave them even just a little happiness and hope).”

In the past few years, the young man’s father has been gathering at least once a year with his children that he could locate, or had located him. The son is allowed by his mother to join his father. Revillame gets them together in his sprawling estate residence in Tagaytay. The children post on their Instagrams happy photos of their periodic get-togethers.

Actor Meryll Soriano is Revillame’s daughter with Becbec Soriano, a younger sister of “Diamond Star” Maricel Soriano. Becbec was part of a group of promo dancers for a recording company when she had a relationship with Revillame There were years in the past that it was never mentioned that he was her father.

Revillame started in showbiz as a drummer for the band Cicada, which also had Randy Santiago as a member. This was before Santiago became wildly famous as a noontime show host and solo act as a singer. Some of his friends became known as “Hawi Boys,” the guys who surrounded Santiago when every time he arrived at a singing engagement and prevented the fans from stalling him. Revillame was one of those friends though he would later get known independently as a comedian. And eventually a much-adulated show host himself of daily contest-loaded and prize-loaded game-variety shows.

Many may not be aware that Revillame’s first legal wife was Princess Punzalan, the only daughter of broadcaster Helen Vela who was famous for years as a noontime show host and host of the top-rating drama anthology Lovingly Yours, Helen, forerunner of Charo Santos’ Dear Charo. They never had children, and that seemed to be a reason for them to part ways easily and not be remembered as having been a couple once.

Punzalan’s father was the well-followed radio announcer Orly Punzalan who was good-looking and quite charming, very popular with women, including those from showbiz, such as singer-comedian Mitch Valdez (who in her early years in showbiz was known as “Maya Valdez”).

Princess has a younger brother, Paulo Punzalan, who eventually became a famous pastor. It was Paulo who officiated the controversial wedding of Sarah Geronimo and Matteo Guidecelli at a Christian center. (The wedding became controversial because it was held in secret to prevent Geronimo’s parents from attending the event since they were against their daughter’s marrying too soon even as the superstar singer was already in her 20s at that time. Geronimo’s mother made it to the venue and reportedly wanted to disrupt the ceremonies, thus causing a commotion.)

Revillame’s hidden daughters started turning up after he had become famous (or “infamous,” depending on one’s judgement) as a TV host who gives away so much cash as prizes to home viewers and studio contestants. Meryll, of course, never had to claim him as her father because the identity of her estranged parents had always been well-known among showbiz insiders.

Revillame first met daughter Marimonte as a young girl in 2007. She grew up in Baquio City and studied at the Brent School there.

As for his daughter Louise Anne, Revillame once said he knew she lives in Laguna with her mother.

Revillame is aspiring to be a senator. He kept quiet about it almost as soon as he announced it. After all, it’s not campaign period yet. His TV show, co-produced with GMA 7, sometimes looks threatened with non-renewal or abrupt cancellation. His female co-hosts were removed without warning recently, including the VMX (formerly VMX) top draw Christine Bermas.

But when deprived of a network to air his show, basically titled Wowowin but has been going through variations, Revillame doesn’t mind airing it on his YouTube channel. He is like a chameleon who survives gloriously anywhere and everywhere. The universe seems to be always on Revillame’s side.

He seems to have never asked his children to co-host his shows or to even appear as guests every now and then. Well, he most probably wants to avoid being accused of using his children to further his career as a show host-producer. He may even be accused to his face that he is losing appeal as a TV personality, so he is banking on his children to shore up his appeal.