MANILA, Philippines — KD Estrada’s last name may be associated with the prominent showbiz and political clan but he is not in any way related to them. In fact, he is the “first artist” in his family.
“I get that a lot or any Estradas in general. Kasi when they hear Estrada, there are a lot of Estradas talaga in showbiz. In my family, I’m the only artist,” the actor-singer clarified in an exclusive interview with The STAR.
The 18-year-old’s parents are both entrepreneurs as well as his grandparents. However, he somewhat inherited his music inclination from his great-great-grandfather who was a violinist and dad’s brother who is a musician in the United States.
He, nonetheless, thanked his parents for supporting his decision to join showbiz, which has been his dream since he was a kid. He recalled going to auditions for commercials as early as nine years old but “I wouldn’t get the roles because uso kasi dati yung mestizo, as in yung (foreign)-looking talaga na kid. During auditions, I was the only Filipino-looking kid talaga. Lahat sila may lahi, ako lang hindi. And I would get discouraged for a bit.”
So he took a break for a few years until he reached 16 when he was scouted to be a Star Magic artist. “Maybe I just needed to wait for a few years talaga ‘til I could get into showbiz. For me din, I don’t want to start like super young age ‘coz I think that would be overwhelming.”
Despite his “slow-growing career,” as he put it, he kept going for his passion. “Even if I wasn’t getting the recognition, I still love what I was doing. I still love making music and doing projects. I really want to do this talaga. I just have to be patient if I want to get the recognition.”
Then came the Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) opportunity, which has given him the much-needed boost for his career, he said. “At first, I didn’t expect that people will like who I am. I don’t have much of a backstory in the first place prior to PBB. I was a slow-growing Star Magic and Star Music artist. I didn’t get the most views, the most attention din. The spotlight is mostly on the other artists.”
He continued, “I was slowly growing while others were like, boom! Their careers are boosting. But then I got PBB and that’s the biggest boost for a person here in the Philippines. You could either make it or break it in PBB.”
KD admitted he was “nervous, anxious and super scared” and it showed especially during his first week in the reality game show.
When he got out, the first thing that he did was to check his mobile phone and “ordered two boxes of pizza and ate everything in one sitting.” His biggest takeaways from his PBB stint are “self-confidence, self-esteem and self-love.”
During his stay in the house, the former celebrity housemate was diagnosed with depression by PBB resident psychologist-psychiatrist, Dr. Randy Dellosa.
“I couldn’t open up my depression inside the house because I think that people can use that against me to nominate me to go outside the house. I kind of know what the strategies of PBB din… But the thing is, I’m fine naman. I just have certain moments na talaga na mada-down ako but that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna give up,” said the rising talent.
When asked more about how he’s coping with it right now, he said, “There are days talaga na minsan mada-down ka even if you are on medicines. You still have thoughts.” But compared to before, it’s more manageable now, he further told The STAR. “If you have a mental condition, it would take time talaga, (be) patient because it will get better in time. You have to give time to yourself to help yourself. And, of course, reach out to others din na todo (ang) support sa ’yo.”
“Find your core group or support group like your family or friends,” he advised.
One of the ways KD learned to deal with it inside the PBB house was working out with Albie Casiño. “Kuya Albie is such a big help kahit his stay was short kasi two weeks lang siya. But, in a span of two weeks, Kuya Albie did really help me. He made me feel less alone. I would say open up kasi baka yung tao na kinakausap mo is going through the same thing, you can (also) relate to that person and you can help each other,” he shared.
“You are not alone,” he reminded fellow young people who have the same struggle as him. “It’s so hard when you have so much in your head na hindi mo ma-explain and hindi mo ma-open (up) but I want to say that you are not alone.”
“Just take it day by day. Take baby steps because you don’t want to overwhelm yourself agad,” he said about dealing with anxiety. “You just have to give yourself just the smallest push. The smallest push can go such a long way.”
Meanwhile, KD is open to having fellow housemate Alexa Ilacad as his love team partner. “She’s a great friend of mine. She’s my best friend. I would love to work with Alexa din talaga,” he said of the actress.
“To be honest, inside the house, I’ve seen clips of me and Alexa, ang sweet pala namin. Me and Alexa are very sweet inside the house. We always tell each other na, ‘Hey, you’re beautiful. Hey, you’re handsome,’” shared KD and he, too, noticed the “kilig factor” when they were together.
“But I’m not using the kilig in any way. Me and Alexa are genuine talaga with each other. I’m not using Alexa for any agenda. Alexa knows that din. I really want to grow as an artist and if it’s with Alexa, that’s great,” he explained.
Would their status be “upgrading” to the next (romantic) level? “Career muna. But I would say na me and Alexa have a genuine love for each other and that’s not going away any time soon,” declared KD.