Joey de Leon says TAPE wanted Ryan Agoncillo, Maine Mendoza, Paolo Ballesteros, Ryzza Mae out of 'Eat Bulaga'
MANILA, Philippines — Joey de Leon described the relationship among his "Eat Bulaga" co-hosts as akin to that of siblings. As such, this influenced them to stand up for their co-hosts, Maine Mendoza, Ryan Agoncillo, Paolo Ballesteros and Ryzza Mae Dizon, because he claimed the new management of Television and Production Exponents, Inc. (TAPE) wanted them removed from the show.
"Alam mo bago pa maging Kapatid kami, magkakapatid na ang turingan namin. Walang nagsi-sikretuhan sa amin. Pinagtatanggol namin kaya nga nangyari ito dahil may pinapatanggal sila na tatlong hosts e. 'Yun ang totoo," said de Leon.
Since 1995 until last month, "Eat Bulaga" aired on GMA-7.
He was interviewed on the June 8 newscast of "The Big Story," anchored by Regina Lay, Shawn Yao and Gretchen Ho.
De Leon named some of his "Eat Bulaga" co-hosts when he was asked to identify them.
"Well, sige. Sabihin ko na sa inyo ang totoo. Pinapatanggal nila si Ryzza Mae 'yung bata. Si Ryan Agoncillo at saka si Paolo Ballesteros.
He said he did not know the reason why the show's production company allegedly wanted some of the hosts out of the show.
"Ah ewan. May ipapasok siguro sila na talents nila. Pati si Maine actually nung una e. Pero sabi ko, 'Di pwede e. Tanggalin n'yo na kami lahat,'" he added.
He shared that TAPE also wanted to remove some members of the show's production staff and even portions of the show.
"Si Tito ang magandang magpaliwanag diyan. Si Tito ang palaban e," he said.
Last May 31, he, Tito Sotto and Vic Sotto resigned from TAPE, the production company that produced "Eat Bulaga." Their co-hosts mentioned above with the inclusion of Allan K, Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola immediately after filed their resignations.
No one was pressured
De Leon described their bond as solid, and stressed that there was no pressure from their co-hosts to follow them.
"Hindi. Immediately right after pumirma sila e. Kung 'yun ang ibig mong sabihin ha. Wala e. Hindi namin... 'Uy dito na kayo.' Through the years, basta gusto niyo sumama, nandito lang kami," he said.
He also answered if Alden Richards, who was among their co-hosts and recently returned to the show after a long absence, will join them in their new network.
"Depende siguro kasi naka-sign sa kabila e," De Leon said.
Alden is currently signed with Sparkle GMA Artist Center, GMA-7's talent agency.
Airing on TV5
De Leon was also asked to react to a statement by TAPE Chief Financial Officer Bullet Jalosjos who said in an interview with Pep.ph that the talks were "doomed from the start."
“Because of the treatments that they were already giving us, it really didn’t look like they wanted to work with the new management,” Jalosjos said in the interview, referring to the changes within the company's new management. “They made it clear vocally, body language, alam na namin na talaga, there’s no way… Ang akin, it seemed like it was doomed from the very start,” he added.
As a reaction, Joey noted the changes the new management wanted to do to their show, which they had been hosting since 1979.
"Maraming babaguhin e. Kasi nga after 44 years babaguhin mo. Eh magkakagulo talaga. Me tatanggalin, may papalitan. May ika-cut na sweldo. 'Yun ang totoo. Across the board. Malaking slash. So ano e, magulo. Talagang magulo. Magugulat kayo after 44 years. Wala namang ano. Sitting pretty everybody. Biglang nag-change ng management. We're taking over. Pak. Eh 'di syempre magkakagulo," he said.
They were surprised. He shared that what he said during one of the meetings.
"Ako nga 'yung pinakamabigat kong sinabi sa isang meeting, 'Hindi ba pwedeng paabutin n'yo kami ng 50 years? Tapos sipain nyo na kami.' 'Yun 'yung word ko mismo. 'Sipain nyo na kami.' First time ko itong sinabi dahil ayoko na ng gulo, may away. Basta masaya kami na nakalipat na kami. Bago ang bahay namin," de Leon said.
He added that he leaves it up to the MediaQuest and TV5 regarding the airing details of their show, but he eventually answered the question on the date.
"Kung airing tinatanong mo, siguro first week of next month. Malamang umere na tayo," the host said.
RELATED: Tito Sotto says 95% of 'Eat Bulaga' production workforce moving to TV5
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