Catwalk gawk: Who are hot? Who are not?

The shrieks and shouts from the beholden audiences are undoubtedly great indicators on who’s white star hot, newbies and forgettable

Alwin Ignacio·24 March 2025, 9:50 pm

Full-packed Mall of Asia Arena, check. Male and female models, in various shapes, sizes and nationalities, double check. Stars bringing in the oomph and stellar wattage, triple check. And yes, the Southeast Asian Pop Superstar Group, SB19, with an electrifying performance of their hit song, “Dam,” quadruple check!

The Bench Body of Work was a fashion extravaganza that was excessive, overlong and repetitive to the point of boredom. Still, this marketing ploy and PR blitz bring the people to watch the much-missed spectacle of brawn, body, beauty and undergarments.

The shrieks and shouts from the beholden audiences are undoubtedly great indicators on who’s white star hot, newbies and forgettable.

Hot moments

Hottest catwalk moments included Alden Richards who teased with his jumpsuit unbuttoned one strap at a time, white undershirt reveal, removal and the smooth, creamy skin and toned body, spreading his arms in a pose of liberation.

Kapuso couple Ruru Madrid and Bianca Umali.

Lolong star Ruru Madrid, in his half-naked glory, elicited instantaneous positive crowd reaction. His muse and inamorata, Bianca Umali, thanks to Madrid, earned her desired acknowledgement.

Pinoy in body structure and height, but knowing how to make his onstage moment count, Edgar Allan Guzman pulled off his underwear to show buttocks, smooth and white.

Two Sparkle boys also made their impressive stage marks — Bruce Roeland and the Royce Cabrera.

Still hot in a daddy kind of way, Jake Cuenca’s grand entrance on a motorcycle commanded attention and appreciation. His behind, though, has seen perkier and plumpish days.

Joshua Garcia was all dressed up yet his boyish charm, impressive height and superstar presence stirred up the Arena audiences and gifted him with collective screams.

Catwalk scene stealer who vogued his way to the hearts of the people was Nunoy Revlon, He slayed! He sashayed! You nailed it, queen!

Forget us not

This bunch may have the online followers and “next in line,” “popular” labels, according to their network press releases. However, the bafflement with the propaganda about them comes from the fact that there was no authentic and instant reaction when they appeared on the catwalk. And that only when their names were flashed on the screen monitors did the Arena public recognize them: “Ay! Si ano, sila pala iyan.”

Sophia Pablo and Allen Ansay, teen love pair from Sparkle; Diego Gutierrez, Robbie Jaworski and Kelvin Miranda, a not so impactful trio.

For all his alpha male posturing and bulky body that made him look pint-sized, Derrick Monastario did not receive the love.

Another diminutive man on the catwalk, Teejay Marquez, resorted to an erotic gesture to elicit crowd response. Marquez was best in male pag-kendeng (sashaying) though.

All the seasoned beauty queens and their body parts that can no longer defy gravity were most evident with Ariela Arrida, Celeste Cortesi, Gazini Ganados and Michelle Dee.

Dee, who is in her blonde hair era, looked like a transwoman proud of her transitioning that her movements on the catwalk were so “binakla (softened)” and not like her usual supermodel ways.

Jameson Blake needed to do his photo posing and a little skin teasing act before everyone noticed it was him onstage.

It was a wasted opportunity for Kyle Echarri who appeared in a Timothee Chalamet, all-black ensemble rip-off. Whatever happened to the Echarri who bravely shows off his body on his social media platforms?

Lovi Poe was eclipsed by her long tulle trail!

Daily Tribune

Catwalk gawk: Who are hot? Who are not?

Hot moments

Forget us not

Wishful thinking