CELEBRITY INTERVIEWERS

Celebrities who now have their own vlogs where they grill their subjects must have already realized by this time that being an interviewer is not a position created in heaven.

Butch Francisco·29 March 2025, 12:45 am

When talk shows were still a regular staple on Philippine television, a lot of celebrities were deathly afraid of being interviewed in front of the camera. They wished they were the ones doing the interview instead.

Be careful what you wish for.

With TV and the movies dying, the landscape of local entertainment had changed drastically. With very few projects available in showbiz, personalities decided to put up their own vlogs to make it known that they are still around.

In show business, absence doesn’t necessarily make the heart grow fonder. One is forgotten if not seen. Visibility is the name of the game. So don’t be surprised to see every other showbiz personality today trying to claim a spot on social media — usually interviewing fellow celebrities.

So, how are these celebrities faring as interviewers? The Butcher will delve into some of the most popular YouTube channels of showbiz personalities.

Banter, bonding, biography

The most fun to watch on YouTube is Luis Listens — as hosted by Luis Manzano. Luis, who was Lucky in his boyhood, already had built-in luck when he started his YouTube show. There were his celebrity parents, Vilma Santos and Edu Manzano, to mine for content.

Or his wife, Jessy Mendiola. A true crowd-pleaser is their baby, Peanut, who is not exactly Luis’ MiniMe because she is a “MiniVi” — or Mini Vilma.

Luis Listens is easy to watch because it’s just banter. But one has to be as intelligent and funny as Luis to make the format work. Luis succeeds in this area because most of his jokes are self-deprecating.

The format of Maricel Soriano’s vlog is simple bonding. In a recent episode, for example, she had Judy Ann Santos. The two go back a long way — starting from the time Judy Ann was a child star.

Their on-cam bonding, therefore, was very engaging to watch. They merely talk about the past and pieces of previously unknown information are revealed in the process.

Snooky Serna also bonds with her guests. Priceless are her separate interviews with Maricel Soriano and Dina Bonnevie, who were her co-stars in Underage.

Snooky never puts her subjects on the spot and will never embarrass them in front of the camera. (And knowing her kind heart, not even off-cam, for sure.) She’s not out there for a scoop.

But she hit the jackpot when Elizabeth Oropesa admitted on-cam to having a child with Dante Rivero. Not too many people know that.

Lately, Snooky has been treading on dangerous territory by doing biography. I say dangerous because biographies have to be accurate and factual. She has to be careful because not all interviewees are as honest as Elizabeth Oropesa.

Some will lie through their veneered teeth. And there are those who are not blessed with good memory. They tend to forget events that happened in the past.

Weak memory, wrong information

One perfect example is Chiqui Hollmann-Yulo, who came out a few months ago in Snooky’s show. In that episode, Chiqui got the information pertaining to Student Canteen and Eat Bulaga! all wrong.

Was Chiqui lying? No. Maybe she got confused because she gave birth twice and the general anesthesia must have affected her memory.

For those who are not familiar with Eat Bulaga!’s story, Chiqui was the original female co-host. But since no one among them was getting paid during the show’s first few years, she decided to leave the show on her birthday, 12 September 1981. There was an on-cam celebration prepared for her, but she was a no-show.

Chiqui then joined the competing show Student Canteen, which had Coney Reyes as female co-host since the show’s 1975 revival. But Coney wasn’t there on Chiqui’s first day in the program. According to Chiqui, she called up Coney to ask what happened. As per Chiqui’s account, Coney simply said: “I joined Eat Bulaga!.”

Of course, Coney joined Eat Bulaga!. But the events didn’t unfold that way. There was HUGE drama in the local TV scene that time. Too long to narrate here.

Importance of research

Celebrities who have become interviewers should start thinking like journalists. In the case of Snooky, she once worked as a newscaster for IBC-13 — at a time when movie and TV offers were scarce. Well, she wasn’t exactly put out there on field. Basically, she was a news reader.

Julius, of course, had always been a top-notch broadcaster — one of the best. But entertainment is not up his alley. When he did a feature on Julio Diaz, he introduced the seasoned actor as “someone who became popular in the 1990s.”

No!!! Julio was already a screen stud in 1985 and was a Viva artist even before the 1990s came around.

And since showbiz is alien to him, Julius fails to ask the proper follow-up questions. During his interview with Anna Marin, who has a love child, courtesy of Fernando Poe, Jr., he missed the opportunity to grill the actress further on issues that were begging for answers.

Anna claimed that when the affair happened, she was very young and was not aware that FPJ was married to Susan Roces. What?! That piece of information could have been asked in UPCAT or even the Civil Service exams and any Filipino could have given the correct answer to a question like that.

Julius should also be more perceptive and know when a subject is telling the truth or simply yanking his chain. During his conversation with William Martinez, for example, the actor claimed that he came up with the title of that iconic youth-oriented movie, Bagets.

According to William, he came home one night to find his mother doing an inventory of the pieces of jewelry she was selling. A rectangular-shaped diamond caught his attention and his mother said it was called a “baguette.” William then told Julius that the baguette diamond was the inspiration behind the title of the 1984 Bagets.

Interesting tale, but that’s not the etymology of Bagets. Although not yet that popular, the term “bagets” was already around as early as 1981 and it meant newbie — or “bagito.”

It must also be noted that Julius’ YouTube show has become the new Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko, but with better-looking indigents. His is only the celebrity vlog that can afford to pay his subject — usually P50,000 that he proudly waves on-cam for everyone to see. But let us not question anymore this charitable deed from his end. At least, he is able to help those in need.

Responsibility to audience

So far, the best celebrity vlog is Toni Talks. Toni Gonzaga had been canceled — no thanks to her political convictions. It was social media that saved her.

Toni’s subjects are not limited to showbiz personalities. Her best interview is that one where book author Joy Mendoza talks about her harrowing experience when she was 15. She was raped by seven armed robbers who sneaked into their Antipolo home way back in the 1990s.

It was her faith that made her whole again. She is now married and has her own children. Joy never pressed charges and allowed the Lord to take over. Yes, there is divine justice. Those evil men were said to have finished each other off due to their greed. They should be burning in hell by now.

Celebrities who now have their own vlogs where they grill their subjects must have already realized by this time that being an interviewer is not a position created in heaven. It is a difficult job that requires a lot of hard work, particularly research.

They have a tremendous responsibility to their audience. Any wrong information they allow to float today will remain in cyberspace forever. That will be perceived as the gospel truth for generations to come.