A multimedia superstar, a box-office queen, an in-demand host, and a platinum-selling recording star, all at the same time, Toni Gonzaga has certainly made tons and fortune and accomplishments.
It’s an understatement to say Toni Gonzaga is a big star; she is, one of her generation’s most successful stars, having accomplished so much in her more than two-decade tenure as an actress and television presenter. It’s also an understatement to say that she owes much of her success to ABS-CBN.
Gonzaga moved to ABS-CBN in 2005, although it’s worth noting she was already presenting the Studio 23 show, Wazzap Wazzup, since a year earlier. After serving her Eat Bulaga stint, she officially joined ABS-CBN by becoming one of the original hosts of the hit reality show, Pinoy Big Brother, which she hosted until her recent departure. She was with the show for 16 years. She also joined the musical variety show, ASAP, where she stayed as one of the main hosts for several years. She was part of the show’s girl groups, It Girls and D-Lite. Gonzaga was also tapped to host the Saturday showbiz talk show, Entertainment Konek, and the short-lived weekday morning show, MRS. She was cast in the sitcom, My Juan and Only, which starred the late Comedy King, Dolphy, also in 2005.
She subsequently starred in the sitcom, Bora, and the primetime TV series, Crazy For You, in 2006. In the same year, she started hosting the talent reality show, Pinoy Dream Academy, until its last season in 2008. In 2010, she was tapped to be one of the new main hosts of the hit showbiz gossip show, The Buzz. In 2013, she became one of the main presenters of the talent-reality series, The Voice. In 2014, she headlined the Sunday primetime sitcom, Home Sweetie Home, alongside John Lloyd Cruz, until 2020. She also served as the main host of the Teens and Kids editions of The Voice Philippines. In 2018, she was Pilipinas Got Talent’s main presenter.
Gonzaga thrived as a movie star through the movies she made with Star Cinema. Among her biggest box-office grosses are D’Anothers (2005), You Are The One (2006), You Got Me (2007), My Only U (2008), My Amnesia Girl (2010), Four Sisters and A Wedding (2013), and You’re My Boss (2015). Her 2014 megahit, Starting Over Again, remains her most commercially successful film to date, with nearly PhP600 million box office gross. The film also gave her her first and only FAMAS Best Actress trophy and her first Box-Office title from the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholar Foundation in 2015.
As a recording artist, Gonzaga’s tenure made her one of the best-selling artists of her time. She had platinum and gold-certified albums, and she released numerous chart-topping singles, including ‘We Belong’ and ‘Catch Me, I’m Fallin’.
She staged several [at least 8] major concerts and had a world tour. In 2012, she scored a PMPC Star Awards for Music Best Album trophy for Celestine.
Throughout her years as a Kapamilya, Gonzaga had some of the most distinctive monickers given to her, including the Ultimate Multimedia Star, Philippine Romcom Queen, and others. She is known for her iconic PBB line, ‘Hello, Philippines and Hello World!’, and the ‘I Love You Piolo’ line, which practically gave her the first major push to stardom.
With her departure from the 16-year-old Pinoy Big Brother, Gonzaga isn’t only departing from where she practically started. She is also cutting ties with ABS-CBN, which undoubtedly played the biggest part in her ascension to superstardom.
Due to her nearly-unceremonious exit from the show, bitter words came out. It came in the wake of her support to someone who had a hand directly in shutting the Network that practically built her in the last 17 years.
It’s an unsurprising turn, to be honest, given her long-time affinity with the Marcoses, but the hurt was impossible to dismiss by many.
