From a simple drummer, he rose to fame as a popular TV host earning no less than P1 million a day. However, controversy followed him wherever he went.
That seems to be the story of Wilfredo Buendia Revillame, popularly known as Willie Revillame, whose lost millions when his recent show “Wowowin” was cancelled on July 26, 2015.
However, the controversial host vowed to make a comeback and is currently in talks with GMA 7 management to get a better time slot and hopefully have a new daily show.
Whether he hurdles his latest challenge or remains in showbiz limbo is something we cannot determine yet. Knowing Willie, fans believe he will survive and be back on his feet to make people happy again.
Willie started as a professional drummer and was an “extra” or bit player in many films before he hosted a number of variety shows. He learned the ropes from Randy Santiago who discovered the former in the high school play, “Tikboy: Alyas Boy Dragon” where Willie was the main character. Randy hired him to be one of the “hawi boys” on GMA’s noon time show “Lunch Date.”
In 1998, Willie became the host of ABS-CBN’s “Sang Linggo nAPO Sila.” When this was replaced by “Magandang Tanghali Bayan” (MTB), he joined Randy Santiago and John Estrada on the show.
Photo by:infolikes, philstar, pinoystop
MTB debuted on Philippine television on November 30,1998. The trio became popular among viewers, but was met with criticism. The triumvirate was denounced as mere copycats of their counterparts Tito, Vic, and Joey in the rival network.
In 1999, Willie, Randy, and John were suspended due to misbehavior during MTB’s Calendar Girl segment, which, according to the MTRCB, “treated women with disrespect, bordering on malice and vulgarity, and the hosts even dished out naughty double-meaning jokes.”
In 2003, ABS-CBN brought the trio back in “Masayang Tanghali Bayan” that replaced MTB. Unfortunately, Willie and John didn’t learn from past mistakes and were suspended anew for uttering malicious words on air.
Willie then hosted the public service program, “Willingly Yours”, where he was awarded for his work. When the MTRCB asked ABS-CBN to fire the 54-year-old host for his nasty jokes, Willie resigned from the show.
He received immense support from the entertainment talk show “The Buzz.” During that time, actress Gretchen Baretto promised to help Willie work in ABC 5 (now TV5). With the help of her partner Antonio “Tony Boy” Cojuangco, the former ABC 5 owner, Gretchen gave Willie a new show “Puso o Pera.”
After series of talks, Willie returned to ABS-CBN in 2005 as the host of his own game show “Wowowee.” This catapulted him to fame in a short period of time and the show aired five times a day on The Filipino Channel (TFC). Willie’s co-hosts were Janelle Jamer, Kat Alano, and Iya Villania. Mariel Rodriguez, Valerie Concepcion, and Pokwang also became part of the show.
On the first anniversary of “Wowowee”, a stampede occurred at the PhilSports Arena, killing 74 people. ABS-CBN Chair Gabby Lopez took accountability of the accident and the show was relaunched.
In May 2010, the show was cancelled after Willie asked ABS-CBN to fire former “The Buzz” and radio show host Jobert Sucaldito when the latter offended him or he would resign from the noon time program.
In October 2010, Willie resurfaced as the host of the prime time show “Willing Willie” on TV 5. However, this did not fare well with his former network ABS-CBN that filed a P127 million copyright infringement suit against Willie for copying “Wowowee.” ABS-CBN said that the TV5 game show “deliberately and intentionally imitated ‘Wowowee’ to steal the goodwill that the latter built over the past 5 years.”
READ:Why did Willie Revillame kneel in front of Charo Santos-Concio?
Still, Willie persevered and went back to television with “Wil Time Bigtime”, which ran for two years. The show ended on January 5, 2013, but Willie said he would return in a new show.
True to his word, he appeared in another noon time show, but left after four months to take a vacation when his contract with TV5 expired in October 2013.
In March 2015, Willie reappeared on GMA 7 for “Wowowin” that premiered on May 10, 2015. It marked Willie’s TV comeback, but the new show didn’t last.
READ: GMA Network reduces airtime cost of “Wowowin”
The final episode was aired on July 26, 2015. GMA said it is still looking for a good time slot for “Wowowin” that might air daily.
Featured Photo from: banderablogs.wordpress.com
