Toni Gonzaga: 35 Louboutins, 8 movies and counting

I first met Toni Gonzaga on the set of the show Wazzup Wazzup. I was just starting as a host and she had just transferred to ABS-CBN. We started to become close friends when I became her co-host for Pinoy Big Brother after I became a housemate. Ever since, she has never been selfish. With the limelight, with lines to say, with food, with extra clothes, with advice, she has always been so generous. And you know what they say: when you share with others, it will come back tenfold. In Toni’s case, a million-fold. When I hear a whole coliseum singing her songs or see full movie houses laughing at her punchlines, I really find it hard to believe that I am actually friends with this multi-awarded singer, host and actress. Here are 10 things you should know about Celestine Gonzaga, more commonly known as Toni Gonzaga.

1. She grew up never thinking she was beautiful, with her dad reminding her that she would go to auditions because of her talent and not her beauty.

When she would wait in line at castings, she couldn’t help but notice all the beautiful mestizas (she remembers models Cristina Garcia and Joey Mead) around her. “Okay lang yun kasi hindi naman ganda yung ibebenta mo, yung talent mo yung ibebenta mo,” she recalls her daddy Bonoy telling her. She and her younger sister Catherine were raised with their dad teaching, “Wag kayo masyado magpaganda o ma-conscious sa itsura niyo, hindi naman yun yung importante sa pagkatao niyo.”

Show business was her dream as far back as she can remember. When her mommy Pinty would bring four-year-old Tin (nickname given by Celestine) to her office, she’d request all her officemates to come hear her sing. “Kasi nga diba idol ko si Regine (Velasquez). Pag nakikita ko siya sa TV, sinasabi ko sa sarili ko na gusto ko maging singer, gusto ko nasa stage, may microphone, madaming tao,” she fondly recalls. 

2. At hotel lobbies, Toni always makes it a point to listen and applaud for the lounge singers, because she started as one when she was 17.

At the age of nine, she almost became a part of Repertory Philippines’ production of The Great White Way, but because she was young, naïve, and tired from a long bus ride, by the time she was asked to perform, she didn’t put much effort into singing. “First time ko ma-experience yung ganung klaseng rejection, harapan, sabi sa akin ni Baby Barredo, ‘Thank you, you may now go home,’” she narrates. Little did she know that that meant her performance did not pass, and that served as a lesson for her that show business is a serious business.

Her second biggest rejection came when she was 13 years old. She joined the first ever Metro Pop Singing Competition (the same batch as Kyla and Faith Cuneta) but lost. “Isa yun sa biggest heartache and heartbreak ko, feeling ko yun yung big break ko sa pagkanta,” she shares. It was after this that she realized she needed to try other things. She auditioned for everything from acting to modeling to hosting, from ABS-CBN to GMA to RPN. Still, her big break did not come.

It was when she met the parents of a hotel lounge singer that she got the idea of working in a hotel when she was 16. “Nag-Hyatt hotel ako, Kalesa Bar, Casino Filipino, Shangri-la Conways, Sulu Hotel, I did five gigs in a week, I was first year college,” she recalls. From doing her homework in the free hotel room provided to enjoying the free buffetl; from doing two sets a night to being protected by hotel staff against DOMs, Toni widened her range as a singer and learned how to engage crowds with her hosting from her days as a hotel lounge singer. To this day, she holds dear a request card that a guest once sent her: “You will not just sing in hotels, you will sing in big crowds, and you will record your own songs.”

3. Her big break in show business came via her “I love you, Piolo!” softdrink commercial, but she was originally cast as the support, not the lead.

The many faces of Toni Gonzaga: Show business was her dream as far back as she can remember. When her mommy Pinty would bring four-year-old Tin (nickname given by Celestine) to her office, she’d request all her officemates to come hear her sing. Photos by WALTER BOLLOZOS

She remembers acting right behind all 10 choices for lead as the director tried them out one by one at the workshop, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., only to find out when the video was played back that she was not seen at all. “Pag sinabi ng direktor sa lead to give a different variation, give din naman ako, all-out acting, eh never pala ako nakuha sa camera,” she shares. Toni said it worked to her advantage that all the other pretty models were too preoccupied with looking pretty. The director plucked Toni out of the support lineup to try her out, was sold after her first take, and the rest is history.

The softdrink commercial paved the way for Vic Sotto to guest her on his sitcom Daddy Di Do Du, and that was when Eat Bulaga took notice and got her to host three times a week for a month. “Yung one month, nag-extend nang na-extend hanggang lumapit na ako kay Miss Malou (Choa-Fagar of Tape, Inc.) at tinanong ko kung pwede kaya ako mag-every day,” she says. They initially declined, but the persistent 17-year-old still tried, after which production said she could come every day, but they wouldn’t be able to increase her talent fee. Toni seized the opportunity.

4. Toni Gonzaga in numbers:

5: Number of studio albums released, all of which reached either Gold or Platinum status.

7110: Model number of cell phone that she bought with her first ever talent fee from Eat Bulaga.

730: Millions in pesos total estimated gross of her eight Star Cinema films (D’ Anothers, You Are The One, You Got Me, My Big Love, My Only U, Ang Tanging Pamilya, Wedding Tayo Wedding Hindi and My Amnesia Girl).

102: Average weight in pounds. She stands 5’4”.

35: Pairs in her collection of Christian Louboutin shoes.

5. After devoting 10 years of her life to show business, Toni plans to go back to school this year to finish her AB degree in English. 

She was waitlisted for the fine arts program at UP Diliman, but upon her father’s advice (“Di ka pwede mag-juggle ng pag-aartista, UP yan”), she decided to enroll in a communications course in Dominican College, which is right beside the Eat Bulaga studio. She managed to balance morning classes, the noontime show, and afternoon classes for around two years. With the growing demands of her career, she switched to an English course in homeschool program AIDE (Asian Institute for Distance Education) in her third year. “Until I got an offer from ABS-CBN, dun na nabago lahat, I decided to grab the opportunity,” she says of why she had to stop studying.

She excitedly shares that she is planning to enroll in an online UP course this June. “Inaayos na namin ni Mommy, kasi nga nakakainggit si Catherine may diploma na after six years,” she reveals.

6. Some of the most important lessons she learned in show business, she learned from Sam Milby and Mariel Rodriguez.

It was in 2005 when she was suddenly in the spotlight, being the main host of the phenomenal reality show Pinoy Big Brother, with the premier season’s most handsome housemate Sam Milby showing admiration for her. “Yung feeling na overwhelmed ka kasi di mo naman ine-expect, people are so interested sa inyong dalawa, you’re young, you shoot almost every day together, so nadala ka din sa hype,” she says of how her almost-romance with Sam started. When her dad advised her that Sam was not the man for her (not because he didn’t like Sam but because parents just have that gut feel), as much as she was thinking of escaping and rebelling, she and Sam never even had the chance to go out and communicated only through text. “It pays to listen to your parents, and do not just follow your heart, use your head,” she says of her biggest lesson from that.

Toni Gonzaga’s strength, her family: She often starts sentences with “Ang sabi ng daddy ko” or “ang sabi ng mommy ko.”

One of the biggest controversies in Toni’s career was when her friendship with Mariel Rodriguez was under scrutiny, with malicious reports of backbiting and bad mouthing. She says that the best lesson that experience taught her is to filter what to listen to and what to ignore. “I don’t want to invest my time and energy on issues that don’t add anything to my life but negativity. I’ve learned to become a professional ignorer. It saves me a lot of heartache and pain.” She says this of how things are now: “Everything is back to normal, forgive and forget.”

7. On Paul Soriano being her first boyfriend: “Its been almost five years, and it’s one of the best decisions of my life.”

After what could have been a relationship with Sam, Toni swore to herself to just focus on her career and put her love life in the backseat. “Ang sakit pala ng ganung feeling na akala mo yun na yun, hindi pala, clinose mo na puso mo, nilalabanan mo na, tapos biglang dumating si Paul,” she shares. “I remember praying about that: Lord, I’m 23, I was able to build a house for my family, I was able to invest in some properties, diba ito dream ko talaga na maging stable na lahat, siguro naman okay na ako to have a relationship,” she reveals. Her mom was instantly drawn to Paul and his cute face and good upbringing, but it took her dad around a year before he and Paul really got to know each other. Paul’s kind heart, patience and non-presko-ness impressed Toni. “The noise of Catherine, the stiffness of Daddy Bonoy, and the mouth of Mommy Pinty, nag-adjust siya dun, and I’m very proud,” she shares laughing.

Toni and Paul feel that their extremely busy schedules are actually a blessing in disguise, and that a big factor as to why they lasted so long is because they are always excited to see each other. “Feeling namin nagtagal kasi meron kaming time for each other and meron kaming space from each other, we grow individually and grow together,” she says. 

Yes, they do talk about marriage and even if Toni once said that by the age of 30 she is ready to get married, she says it’s so hard to believe that’s in two years. “Pwede 32 na lang?” she jokes. One thing she and Paul have talked about is that Toni will not stop working even when she has her own family, but by then, family will be her top priority. 

8. If you think Toni is funny, she insists her sister Catherine is much funnier, and some of Toni’s punchlines and hirits actually come from Catherine.

“Catherine is hilarious, she’s way, way funnier, outrageous, and crazy!” It was only a few years ago though when Toni and Catherine became close. Growing up, they always used to fight since their personalities are really quite opposite. Catherine is carefree, Toni is more reserved; Catherine goes out on gimmicks until late while Toni still follows her curfew even now that she’s 28 (“Actually di na siya curfew, it’s my lifestyle na talaga”); Catherine is a people person, while Toni usually prefers to stick to her friends. Now, they are each other’s strength and shoulder to cry on. Does she feel that Catherine thinks Toni is the favorite of her parents? “Feeling niya favorite ako, hindi niya alam, mabait lang kasi ako, siya kasi matigas ang ulo.”

9. Iconic people Toni has worked with:

FPJ: “Lahat tayo tingin natin sa kanya ‘The King,’ but he never acted like one. Never mo yun mararamdaman sa presence niya.”

Aiai de las Alas: “Ate Aiai is a mother in every aspect.”

Former President Erap: “Surprisingly funny! And kakaiba talaga mass appeal niya. Feeling mo you can approach him anytime.”

Vic Sotto: “Pinaka-laid back na nakilala ko na big star. Definitely one of my biggest dreams ay makatrabaho siya ulit in a project.”

Joey de Leon: “He is a legend. Actor, composer, comedian, writer, singer, dramatic actor, lahat ang galing.”

To this day, Toni and boyfriend Paul Soriano have not gone on an overnight trip out together, and Toni says it just all adds to the excitement

Boy Abunda: “He’s full of wisdom, he knows it all in this industry.”

Gary Valenciano: “He is the ultimate inspiration when it comes to living your life and living your dreams.”

. At the end of the day, after all the projects, awards and material possessions, what overwhelms her most is the house she built with their very own swimming pool.

“Nung bata kami, pag nagda-drawing kami ni Catherine ng dream house namin, laging may swimming pool,” she reveals. Growing up, Toni and her family either just rented a house or lived with the grandparents. At the age of 22, after just five years in show business, she was able to build a house for her family that she eventually expanded into adjacent lots, including a swimming pool. “Every morning when I look around the house, that’s what I’m most thankful for, never kong na-imagine na makakapagpatayo ako ng bahay na may pool.”

* * *

I’ve been so blessed to know Toni for six years now, and she has grown to be like a sister to me. Any parent or sibling would feel so lucky to have Toni as a daughter or sister. There are too many stories of rebellious and independent-to-a-fault young people today, and Toni serves as a breath of fresh air and inspiration. In every step of her life, her family has been there to guide her and right the wrongs, and her beyond-wildest-dreams success today only proves that obedience, patience, and faith really pay off. “Yung itsura ko, I’m not stunning or astoundingly beautiful,” she humbly says. What makes Toni so special? “Hindi ko makakalimutan yung sinabi sa akin ng Daddy ko. That I’m really just an ordinary girl, but with extraordinary dreams.”

* * *

E-mail the author at askiamsuperbianca@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter @iamsuperbianca.