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Get to Know Cristopher Diwata, the Family Man Behind the "What Hafen Vella" Trend

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They say if it’s on the Internet, it’s forever. With the power of social media and how it works in mysterious ways, we have now been reintroduced to Cristopher Diwata, the Taylor Lautner lookalike, whose stint on It’s Showtime’s “Kalokalike Face 2: Level Up” segment in 2013 recently became viral again. The “What hafen Vella” trend has taken over TikTok, where <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@diwatacristopher04gmail" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cristopher’s account</a>, as of this writing, now has more than 50,000 followers and 3.6 million likes. As his feel-good, trending Kalokalike skit resurfaced, brands, shows, and other artists like Ben&amp;Ben have collaborated with him. Content creators, TikTokers, and celebrities like Piolo and Inigo Pascual also came out with their takes on the trend. <div> </div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-18" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJwdwChpHw6/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=864&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A18%2C%22os%22%3A32598476%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-18" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div> </div>Not fond of using a mobile phone—what more social media—he said it was only his wife who showed him all the iterations netizens created with the trending audio of “What hafen Vella.” What was his reaction when he learned he was trending? “’Yung totoo po, ’yung totoo?,” Cristopher chuckled. “Wala po. ’Yung totoo po talaga, no reaction. Sabi ko, ‘Ganu’n ba? Sige.’ Parang ganu’n lang… May pagbabago lang, pero wala pa rin po, hindi ko po siya ma-feel na ‘sikat.’ Hindi e.” It’s not that he isn’t grateful for the attention, love, and support he’s been getting. He is. But he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself. Cristopher humbly opened up, “Parang namanhid na po ako kasi naranasan ko na siya dati tapos nawala. So, sabi ko, siguro ’wag na lang mag-expect. Don’t expect too much, ’di ba? Para hindi ka masaktan.”<div> </div><blockquote cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@diwatacristopher04gmail/video/7500791523655634194" class="tiktok-embed" data-video-id="7500791523655634194" id="v41810478725078300" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px"><iframe name="__tt_embed__v41810478725078300" sandbox="allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-same-origin" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7500791523655634194?lang=en-US&amp;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-05-18T13%3A40%3A02.240564%3Acf37bbe9-a91f-4ccc-a467-243b41930a8e%26action%3Dedit" style="width:100%;height:740px;display:block;visibility:unset;max-height:740px"></iframe></blockquote><script async="" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script><div> </div><div> </div><div>Cristopher Diwata before and during It’s Showtime</div>Cristopher hails from Orion, Bataan. His life in the province was simple—if he wasn’t home, he was either in school or the gym. He was the typical teen, but he was also the type who was dedicated to working out. “Halos hindi po ako pumapalya,” he said, adding that at the time, he probably only missed going to the gym twice or thrice in a year. Twilight star and Hollywood actor Taylor Lautner—who played Jacob Black, a therianthrope who can shapeshift into a wolf, in the famed film series—was known for his muscular physique, which was instrumental in his portrayal of a werewolf. The year before Cristopher joined It’s Showtime’s “Kalokalike” competition as a Taylor Lautner lookalike, the last film in the Twilight series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, was released. As it was a trending movie, Cristopher&#x27;s friends saw his resemblance to Taylor and encouraged him to join “Kalokalike.”We asked who told him he looked like Taylor Lautner. He said, “Mga taga sa amin at mga kaklase ko. Napanood nila ang Twilight. Kasi pinapalabas pa po sa sine ’yan noon. Nu’ng binanggit nila sa akin, sinubukan ko po.” But admittedly, he wasn’t aware of the movie then and only watched it before auditioning in It’s Showtime. “Bago po ako sumali po noon, pinanood ko po muna. Tapos nakita ko nga parehas kami lubog ’yung mata. ’Yung kilay, halos parehas. Sa korte ng mukha,” Cristopher said, adding with a giggle that gave us a glimpse of his natural sense of humor, “Dati po ha! Hindi po ngayon.”<div style="text-align:center"> </div><div><iframe width="925" height="525" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OUi7SRE2pTk?si=Jp_Mgj0NbzK9PWx8" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div> </div>When he found out he had successfully entered the competition, he immediately turned to the Internet to check out photos of Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black to copy his fashion style and learn the character’s lines. But aside from those, Cristopher had no other preparations before going onstage because he didn’t know about the talent showcase. Things happened so fast. He recalled, “Kunwari nag-audition po ako ngayon. Tapos nu’ng sinabi nila na ‘salang na ’yan, p’wede na ’yan,’ naaligaga po ako. Wala akong dalang damit, wala akong costume. So ang ginawa ko nu’n, pumunta po ako sa Internet. Naghanap ako ng dialogue niya na talagang sa tingin ko po na p’wede, na parang galit na galit siya, na kaya ko siyang bigkasin. So ’yun, pinag-aralan ko po siya that day. Tapos salang na po agad. Kaya ganoon po ’yung kinalabasan ng salita.”Apart from his line, Cristopher also thought of removing his tank top onstage, copying a scene where Jacob took off his clothes as he was about to turn into a wolf. He told Metro.Style, “Kasi nakita ko sa kanya noon, ’yung naging wolf siya, hinubad niya. E hindi naman po ako magiging wolf. Ang sabi ko baka maganda kung sirain ko na lang. Kaya ’yun, sinira ko siya at pumatok noon. Kaya mula po noon, ganoon na ang ginagawa ko po.” Topless, he then sang Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years,” which was produced for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 movie.Cristopher remembered how his mind was blank while he was onstage. Many people were in the audience, but he couldn’t see them properly because the lights in front were too bright. He didn’t overthink whatever he did there. “Kung ano lang po ’yung lumabas, ’yun na po talaga,” he said when asked about his performance and onstage banter with the hosts of It’s Showtime. It was a life-changing moment for him.<div> </div><blockquote cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@piolo_pascual/video/7503496919642246418" class="tiktok-embed" data-video-id="7503496919642246418" id="v19335299696038764" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px"><iframe name="__tt_embed__v19335299696038764" sandbox="allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-same-origin" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7503496919642246418?lang=en-US&amp;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-05-18T13%3A40%3A02.240564%3Acf37bbe9-a91f-4ccc-a467-243b41930a8e%26action%3Dedit" style="width:100%;height:736px;display:block;visibility:unset;max-height:736px"></iframe></blockquote><script async="" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script><div> </div><div> </div><div>Cristopher Diwata after It’s Showtime</div>Following his stint on It’s Showtime, Cristopher was blessed to have part-time jobs, doing appearances and small acting gigs, thanks in part because people remembered him from “Kalokalike.“ “Nagkaroon po ako ng maraming events, maraming rakets. Napunta po ako sa kung saan-saang sulok ng Pilipinas. Nakasakay ako ng eroplano pero sa kasamaang palad nga lang po nu’n ay napabayaan ko ang pag-aaral ko,” he revealed. He was in his third year of college, taking up a Bachelor of Secondary Education, majoring in Mathematics. He said he felt he would make a good teacher, especially because his voice is calm, and his being soft-spoken could have worked to his advantage in dealing with students. But then, Cristopher shared, “Nabagsak po ako ng teacher dahil nga po lagi ako absent. Kahit mag-special exam po hindi na po siya uubra dahil kulang na po para mai-credit po ’yung grade.” He said he loves math and joked, “Kaya po ’yung English, wala pong hilig sa’kin.”Cristopher described himself as “happy-go-lucky” during those times. “Gimik dito, gimik doon. Waldas dito, waldas diyan. Ganu’n po ang naging buhay ko noon. Natuto akong mag-inom kahit hindi po ako talaga umiinom,” he looked back.He rented a place in Manila so he could take on part-time jobs. He pursued acting because he wanted to be an action star. But whatever he earned wasn’t enough to cover all his expenses. Cristopher did his best to make the most of his 15 minutes of fame, thanks to It’s Showtime. But, as the saying celebrities are all too familiar with goes, showbiz is not forever. “Dati, halos habulin ko ’yung kasikatan ko, habulin ko na magkaroon ako ng puwang sa industriya,” Cristopher recounted. “Hirap na hirap po ako e. Halos magutom ako, mawalan ako ng pera sa bulsa. Halos mangutang ako sa iba.”That was a difficult phase in his life. But in 2015, he met a girl while filming for an indie movie, and it marked a new chapter in his life. They got married in 2016, and they now have two children: an eight-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. <div> </div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="925" height="525" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9tya6Uvp0H0?si=gVosxW6F-aikCR_3" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> </div><div> </div><div style="text-align:left"> </div><div>What life is like for Cristopher Diwata today</div>Cristopher is currently in Manila for events, shoots, and other commitments, basking in the newfound popularity of his “What hafen Vella” skit.But back in Bataan, he works as a fish dealer. “Ako po ay simpleng tao lang,” he described. “Ako ay fish dealer. Namamakyaw po ako ng isda araw-araw kung mayroong isda. ’Pag wala naman, nasa bahay lang ako, nag-aalaga ng bata.” When we brought up the topic of family, Cristopher got emotional. “Binanggit niyo ’yung family. Kinilabutan ako bigla. Tumaas ’yung balahibo ko. Kasi lahat naman ng ginagawa natin para sa pamilya natin, ’di ba? Sa kanila lang,” the sefless family man reflected. “Ako nagra-raket po ngayon, nandito ako sa Manila. Alam niyo po ba, nagtitira lang ako ng budget ko na kakasya lang po sa akin. Lahat ng TF (talent fee) ko, ipinapadala ko po lahat sa kanila… Kahit ubusin na po nila lahat. Sanay po ako, naranasan ko po talaga na walang pera… Ni hindi ko na makilala si Jose Rizal sa piso dahil wala akong pera… Hindi ko maisip paano kami nakaka-survive. ’Yung mga anak ko, ’pag nanghihingi sa’kin, gaano kasakit, wala akong maibigay. Kaya kung may dumating na pera, sabi ko, ‘Sige, sa inyo na lang.’”Although he knows better than to expect too much from his newfound fame, Cristopher is hopeful for more opportunities in showbiz. He said it’s his dream to be part of Coco Martin’s series, Batang Quiapo. It would be such an honor for him to act alongside Coco, so he’s okay with any role available. “Siguro po kahit barilin lang niya ako bigla, ayos na sa akin,” he said in jest. Booked and busy from weekdays to weekends, Cristopher expressed gratefulness for his followers and supporters, assuring them that he would keep his feet on the ground wherever life takes him. He hopes his viral video will continue to leave a smile on people’s faces. “’Wag niyo pong isipin na nasasaktan ako. ’Yung iba kasi iniisip kung bakit hindi ako napipikon. Hindi po ako pikunin e, at tsaka, ako ’yun e, bakit ko ipagkakaila? Kitang-kita nga ’yung mukha ko e. Kaya sa mga sumusuporta sa akin, maraming, maraming salamat sa inyo. Sana patuloy pa rin po kayong sumuporta,” he concluded.  <div> </div>Interview by Alex CruzLead photos from ABS-CBN Entertainment and Cristopher Diwata on TikTok<div style="text-align:left"> </div>

Get to know Cristopher Diwata, the viral personality behind the "What hafen Vella" TikTok trend, and read about his life story of resilience and hope.

Get to know Cristopher Diwata, the viral personality behind the "What hafen Vella" TikTok trend, and read about his life story of resilience and hope.

‘What Hafen Vella’—What Happened to Cristopher Diwata After His ‘It’s Showtime’ Kalokalike Stint

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‘What Hafen Vella’—What Happened to Cristopher Diwata After His ‘It’s Showtime’ Kalokalike Stint

Grace Libero

Published May 18, 2025 09:00 PM PHT

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Updated May 18, 2025 10:08 PM PHT

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