Tintin: Truth is stranger than fiction

Christine “Tintin” Bersola-Babao has always been known as someone with a sunny disposition and bubbly personality, which brought her fame in the morning show genre. Now, she seems to be sliding comfortably into her new role as co-host of the reality talk show Face the People, where she gets to delve into the raw and real.

Face the People, the precursor of Face to Face, is now hosted by Tintin with Gelli de Belen. According to Tintin, the format of the show is that day to day, they have a “case study” who comes to them to seek help from their Power Team of life coaches that includes Jarret Pulido and Claude Sta. Clara, legal coach lawyer Karen Jimeno and spiritual coach Teresa Garcia.

Among the case studies they’ve had in recent episodes is a man who falls in love with his househelp, and a 51-year-old bouncer who discovers that he’s into men and falls in love with his 24-year-old colleague. These are actual stories involving actual people. They are as real as real can get, even to the point of making people squirm in their seats. Then the taumbayan in the studio and the netizens who watch the show from their homes express their feelings via the show’s Opinion Meter and through online polling. It’s very interactive, but with so much heart, action and drama. Nothing is scripted. “The emotions of our guests are not controlled,” says Tintin. “Doing this show, I realize, time and again, that truth really is stranger than fiction.”

What she does now — and the emotions that she goes through each time — is very different from what she’s used to, but Tintin enjoys it. “I’m a people person. I love helping people,” says Tintin, who recently turned a year older (her birthday is Oct. 30). “I like to listen to other people’s life’s stories and gain wisdom from it. I love to be able to help in any way I possibly can, even if it’s just to lend an ear to listen, give some time to be with a friend, or offer advice when needed.”
                Tintin, who’s been a TV host for two decades now, was handpicked for Face the People by TV5 president Noel Lorenzana and Wilma Galvante, head of TV5’s Entertainment Division. She also got the blessing of her friend and kumare Amy Perez before taking over the challenge of filling in her shoes. She’s thankful, says Tintin, “for this exciting opportunity that they gave, for their trust and confidence in me. I am doing my best in order not to waste that.”

The format of Face the People is more challenging than anything Tintin has hosted before, not just because of the show itself, but because of the schedule. For years, Tintin was used to the schedule followed by a morning show host, where she would wake up at 3:30 a.m., go on air at 5 a.m. and wrap up at 8 a.m. With Face the People, the taping schedule demands more of her time, which means she has to adjust to make time to be a mommy to her children Anya and Nio. “We tape regularly twice a week, three episodes per day, from morning till late evening, sometimes till midnight,” she reveals. There was one time she found herself working until 4 a.m., but she knows that’s par for the course.

“Well of course, it all depends on different aspects, like how hard an episode is, or if there are technical adjustments and other unforeseen circumstances which are all part and parcel of taping a talk show like this, which is not easy to mount to begin with,” says Tintin. “But I love the show and I love what I do here. This is the first time I am hosting a show like this, and it’s really very different from the other talk shows I’ve hosted in the past. This is more challenging.”