2021 Year-Ender: Top Filipino Buzzmakers
Here's a look back on the celebrities and personalities who made headlines this year
Yet another year’s worth of celebrity and society personality news is coming to a close. Here, we’re wrapping things up with a list of buzzmakers this 2021.
Relive the year that was through the gallery below:
2021 Filipino Buzzmakers
2021 Filipino Buzzmakers
Hidilyn Diaz
It was an amazing year for Filipino athletes, with Hidilyn Diaz taking the gold literally and figuratively. After her deeply emotional and historic win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July that saw the Philippines earn its first Olympic gold medal, the weightlifter enjoyed a personal victory months after in October. She got engaged to her longtime boyfriend Julius Naranjo, who was creative enough to get her a barbell-inspired ring. The piece of jewelry was an apt choice for the couple as Julius also served as Hidilyn’s coach for her epic Olympic win.
Photo Credit: @hidilyndiaz
Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, Alex Eala, and Yuka Saso
It was truly an exciting year for Filipino sports fans. Aside from Hidilyn Diaz, there are several more Filipino athletes who made the country proud with their incredible achievements. Filipino-Japanese golfer Yuka Saso won the 76th US Women's Open Championship, making history as the first Filipino to win the professional golf tournament following a 3-hole playoff against Nasa Hataoka of Japan. However, aside from this victory, 20-year-old Yuka, a dual citizen of Japan and the Philippines, also announced that she has selected Japanese citizenship. Filipina tennis star Alex Eala and Selekhmeteva of Russia won the 2021 French Open girls' doubles title. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Filipino boxers Carlo Paalam brought home a silver olympic medal in the men's flyweight boxing event and Nesthy Petecio also won a silver medal in the inaugural women's featherweight event.
Photo Credit: ABS-CBN News
Maria Ressa
It would be an understatement to say that journalist Maria Ressa has been through a lot. For her efforts to maintain press freedom and her bravery as an activist, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at Oslo, Norway this year; she is the first Filipino to receive the award. Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov also received the same award.
Photo Credit: ABS-CBN News
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John Arcilla
John Arcilla has been a longtime favorite of serious film aficionados for his versatility and authentic love for the craft of acting. This year, the seasoned actor and his fans alike celebrated as he took home the coveted Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival, an award he earned for his performance in “On The Job: The Missing 8,” sequel to 2013’s critically-acclaimed Erik Matti film “On the Job.” The historic moment made John the first-ever Southeast Asian to win the award in the film festival’s 78-year-long history. Most recently, he also won the Best Supporting Actor award for the movie “Big Night!” at the 2021 Metro Manila Film Festival, wherein John scored a double nomination for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category, the other one being for "A Hard Day."
Photo Credit: Joseph Pascual for Metro.Style | Read our 2021 Metro Man cover story on John here.
Small Laude
A digital star was born! Home to several of television’s most beloved shows like “Pia’s Postcards,” “EIC on the Move,” “Beached,” and “Casa Daza,” Metro Channel welcomed a new host this year, to helm her very first show. Society personality Small Laude officially became the host of “It’s a Small World,” a show that highlights everything she’s best at: entertaining and lifestyle, fashion and design, and creating her best life in the comfort of her very own home. She’s been a popular figure on social media with her Instagram account and YouTube channel (which has more than 650,000 subscribers, as of this writing) inviting loyal followers. And now, she’ll enjoy more fans who’ll love to see her take things to the small screen for the very first time.
Photo Credit: @smalllaude
Pilar Valdes
Drew Barrymore and Filipino chef Pilar Valdes released their first co-authored cookbook, "Rebel Homemaker: Food, Family, Life" last November. “It’s been such a wonderful journey,” chef Pilar said of their collaboration. “I feel like when we first started working together, it was around the kitchen island and we had cookbooks and just sharing stories, talking about food, and that’s when the idea of the cookbook is born.” "Rebel Homemaker" was three years in the making, and is full of love, laughter and a lot of wonderful recipes.
Photo Credit: @chefpilarvaldes
SB19
SB19 made headlines this December for replacing internationally-renowned Hallyu icons BTS at the no. 1 spot at Billboard’s newest chart. The Filipino boy group of five reached the top spot at Billboard's Hot Trending Songs chart for their song “Bazinga.” The event stirred so much buzz that international publications featured the boy group, including “Forbes” whose contributor Hugh McIntyre wrote, “Billboard introduced a new chart, and for a while, it looked like the only act that would ever appear in the top spot would be BTS. Now, before the ranking turns two months old, one vocal group replaces another, forcing the South Korean outfit from the throne for the first time.” It was an eventful year for SB19 as well, what with their many shows and concerts and huge endorsement deals. This 2021, they also created buzz for their nominations at the MTV Europe Music Awards (Best Southeast Asian Act) and Billboard Music Awards (Top Social Artist).
Photo Credit: @officialsb19
BGYO and BINI
These two P-pop groups under ABS-CBN officially debuted this year: BGYO in January with the single "The Light" and BINI in June with the single "Born to Win." Since their debuts, both groups have been marking milestones and holding shows. But November proved to be special for both as they held a joint concert. Called “One Dream,” the concert was a showcase of all things music, dance, and fashion, and it proved to fans both new and old that bigger and better things are soon to come from these two acts.
Photo Credit: @bgyo_ph and Metro.Style archive
Heart Evangelista
Heart Evangelista has countless international collaborations in her name, but this year, she made headlines for her unique project with Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd. They teamed up for the Moonlight Arts Collective which, writer Leah Puyat writes, “seeks other artists who ‘moonlight’ as visual artists while keeping full-time careers in the entertainment industry, and its mission is to provide signed limited edition prints at an approachable price.” The two connected over their shared experiences of and love for art, with an exclusive conversation between them featured in Metro Society’s digital cover story released last September.
Photo Credit: Martin Romero for Metro Society | Read the cover story here.
LJ Reyes and Paolo Contis
2021 seemed to be a year for fresh romances, but other couples saw things take a turn for the worse. Long-time couple LJ Reyes and Paolo Contis, for example, went their separate ways. The split was made public when Paolo’s manager, Lolit Solis, confirmed the rumors through an Instagram post. The breakup received a ton of painful, unwanted attention. In this issue, an alleged third party was linked to Paolo: his “A Faraway Land” co-star Yen Santos. LJ did an interview with Boy Abunda on his YouTube channel, with the episode uploaded on September 1. In an hour-long conversation, she opened up and clarified “twisted information” about their breakup. LJ said, “Hindi siya mutual. Kasi naniniwala ako na kapag mutual ang isang desisyon, ito ay pareho kayong sumasang-ayon na hindi na nagwo-work 'yung relationship.” She added that she tried to save their relationship but that he didn’t want to take her and their kid back anymore. This interview made so much buzz it now has more than 5.5 million views on YouTube. Days later, Paolo took to social media to attempt to explain his side of the situation. On Instagram, he commented on the issues linked to the breakup, including the cheating issue. He wrote, “Yen Santos - she was never the reason of our breakup, I was. Kung matagal na kaming hindi okay ni LJ, it was mainly because of me.” LJ and Paolo were together for six years, and they have a 2-year-old daughter named Summer. LJ and her kids Summer and Aki (her 10-year-old son with Paulo Avelino) are currently based in the US.
Photo Credit: @niceprintphoto and @paolo_contis
"FPJ's Ang Probinsyano"
Coco Martin starrer “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” has been on the air since September 2015, making it the longest-running drama series in the Philippines. On its 6th anniversary this year, the show revealed two new additions to its cast, widening its already impressive repertoire of guest actors. Sharon Cuneta signed on to play a character named Aurora whose contribution to the show’s thick plot has yet to be revealed. On the other hand, Julia Montes was cast to play Mara, another enigmatic addition to the Probinsyano universe. This was a much-awaited reunion of Coco and Julia (together known as CocoJul), who first starred together in the 2012 series “Walang Hanggan.”
Photo Credit: @cocomartin_ph
Maymay Entrata
Fan favorite Maymay Entrata celebrated her fifth showbiz anniversary this year. The “Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7” alum and Big Winner had a couple of acting projects this year: the film “Princess DayaReese” and the series “Click Like Share.” But 2021 for Maymay was also a great year to explore her musicality. Last November, she launched an album and held an online concert both called “MPowered.” The album includes the song “Amakabogera,” and her performance of the said track on the Wish 107.5 Bus currently has more than 9.6 million views on YouTube.
Photo Credit: @maymay | Read our exclusive interview with Maymay here.
Nadine Lustre
Nadine Lustre has gone through many changes since exploring her music as an independent artist and flexing her artistic muscle with much more freedom. Fans fawned over her album “Wildest Dreams” that she released in 2020, and 2021 followed that up with even more successes, professional and personal. Nadine was one of the local artists that staged online concerts this year; hers was titled “Absolute Madness” and it was a trippy showcase of her rebirth as an artist and the many collaborations that have reshaped her image. Definitely just as important is her introduction of her new, but still rumored, beau, non-celeb personality Christopher Bariou. The Filipino-French entrepreneur made an appearance on Nadine’s Instagram account and it was impossible to miss! Most recently, she’s been making headlines for her efforts in helping the victims of typhoon Odette.
Photo Credit: @carelessph
Liza Soberano
It had been a while since LizQuen fans had seen their love team onscreen. And even though 2021 missed the sweet pairing of Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, Netflix made it up to Liza’s fans with something truly original and exciting. The 23-year-old lent her voice to the streaming platform’s adaptation of “Trese,” a Filipino-created comics series originally written by Budjette Tan. The animated show had Liza voice its titular character in its Filipino version, marking a first in the actress’ decade-long career. “Trese,” whose comics enjoy a loyal cult following, saw a growth in its fan base, thanks to Liza’s star power. Liza also celebrated her 10th showbiz anniversary with a Metro digital cover, a pictorial that took inspiration from her character, Alexandra Trese. But don't worry LizQuen fans, the reel- and real-life couple has an upcoming movie and a teleserye in 2022.
Photo Credit: BJ Pascual from Metro.Style archive | Read our 2021 cover story on Liza here.
Gigi de Lana
Gigi De Lana is a name we’re going to hear more often. Dubbed as the “Philippines' Hottest New Gen Diva,” the singer, actress, and YouTube phenomenon who first made waves as a “Tawag ng Tanghalan” grand finalist has become a fast-rising star. She became an even bigger deal this year when she shocked everyone with her rendition of Roselle Nava’s “Bakit Nga Ba Mahal Kita” with her The Gigi Vibes band. Posted on YouTube in July, the video has racked up more than 6.6 million views, as of this writing and the surprise performance earned her the reputation of being the next birit queen. This 2021, she also made her acting debut一a lead role, no less一in one of the the first Filipino original series that ABS-CBN and global streaming platform iQiyi collaborated on: “Hello, Heart,” wherein she stars alongside in-demand leading man Gerald Anderson. Gigi was also launched as a Star Magic artist this year.
Photo Credit: Ria Regino from Metro.Style archive | Read our exclusive interview with Gigi here.
Maureen Wroblewitz
Maureen Wroblewitz returned to the mainstream in 2021 with a bang. Though many remember her as the winner of Asia’s Next Top Model’s 5th cycle, she showcased her other skills by joining the Miss Universe Philippines 2021 pageant. She was a popular choice among pageant experts and casual watchers alike, but ultimately finished at the first runner-up spot, with Cebu City’s Beatrice Luigi Gomez taking home the crown. Despite this drawback, Maureen’s stars had previously aligned for something else; she was officially signed as a Star Magic artist in July this year and joins many other new Kapamilyas starting their journeys with ABS-CBN.
Photo Credit: @mauwrob | Read our exclusive interview with Maureen here.
Kisses Delavin
Kisses Delavin transformed in front of our eyes this year as she shed her sweetheart image and took on a much more sultry role. The “Pinoy Big Brother” alum did so in preparation for the Miss Universe Philippines 2021 competition, surprising everyone with her foray into pageantry. Though Kisses didn’t make the final cut, she did prove to us all that she had other aces up her sleeve aside from singing and acting.
Photo Credit: @themissuniverseph
Jane de Leon
Attempts to film Darna had repeatedly been at the center of much controversy. But this year, it was announced that the titular Pinoy superhero is finally getting a chance to appear on-screen once again with a series that has successfully started shooting. Directed by Chito S. Roño and starring Jane de Leon as Darna, Joshua Garcia as Brian Robles, Janella Salvador as Valentina, and Zaijian Jaranilla as Ricardo Custodio, with special participation by Iza Calzado as Leonor Custodio, the series is set to premiere this 2022. The Darna film that was also supposed to star Jane was put to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo Credit: @imjanedeleon | Read our catch-up interview with Jane here.
Jodi Sta. Maria
Jodi Sta. Maria has been one of the actresses that best represents balance; while being an amazing mother to her son Thirdy as well as pursuing interests outside of the entertainment industry, she’s also been cast in project after project that truly bring out the best in her acting. Soon after starring in the teleserye “Ang Sa’Yo Ay Akin,” she was announced to star in the Philippine remake of “The World of the Married,” the Korean melodrama that kept many Filipinos company in 2020. The Filipino version is titled “The Broken Marriage Vow” and is scheduled to premiere in January 2022. Jodi will be playing the role of Dr. Jill Valdicano-Ilustre, and she’ll be starring in the series alongside Zanjoe Marudo, who will be filling in the shoes of her character’s husband, David Ilustre.
Photo Credit: Jojit Lorenzo | Read about the fashion in "The Broken Marriage Vow" in this exclusive.
Lovi Poe
The Kapamilya network welcomed Lovi Poe into the fold this September. The multitalented, rising global star moved to ABS-CBN with much fanfare, marking a restart in her career. It was announced that her first ABS-CBN project would have her star alongside Piolo Pascual for the local adaptation of Korean series “Flower of Evil,” a show well-loved by Pinoy K-Drama fanatics. She was also announced to star in an upcoming iWantTFC series, titled “Sleep With Me,” with Janine Gutierrez. Aside from this local showbiz breakthroughs, Lovi also made headlines with her Hollywood movie stint in the Idris Elba-produced, Alex Pettyfer and Poppy Delevingne starrer, “The Chelsea Cowboy,” where she’s portraying English actress, singer, songwriter, and rock star Dana Gillespie.
Photo Credit: Dookie Ducay from Metro.Style archive | Read our 2021 cover story on Lovi here.
Janine Gutierrez
Lovi Poe wasn’t the only one to make a big career move this year. Janine Gutierrez became a proud Kapamilya herself, then was treated to international acclaim not long after. Her performance in “Dito at Doon,” a film about a pandemic-born romance that’s tested by distance but nurtured by it at the same time, earned her a Rising Star Award at the New York Asian Film Festival. Though it wasn’t her first international nomination and win (she’s been recognized for films “Babae at Baril” and “Dagsin” in the past), it was the first time Janine’s talents took her this far on an international stage. This year, she starred in the series “Marry Me, Marry You” with Paulo Avelino and is leading the cast of the upcoming iWantTFC series “Sleep With Me” with Lovi.
Photo Credit: BJ Pascual from Metro.Style archive | Read our 2021 cover story on Janine here.
Sunshine Dizon
Sunshine Dizon was one of the celebrities to move to ABS-CBN this year. She made the big transfer in April, expressing much excitement about her career’s newest development as so many of the stars she’s looked up to are in the network. Her very first project as a Kapamilya was “Marry Me, Marry You,” a teleserye that put her alongside Paulo Avelino and Janine Gutierrez. She currently stars in the ABS-CBN x iQiyi series “Saying Goodbye.”
Photo Credit: Metro.Style archive | Check out highlights of our exclusive interview with Sunshine Dizon here.
Julia Barretto and Joshua Garcia
Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto are no strangers to making it to the top spot in trending celebrity news lists. When they officially became each other’s exes in 2019, JoshLia fans craved closure—and eventually got it via Moira Dela Torre’s music video for massive hit “Paubaya.” The almost 12-minute-long video, which was truly more like a short film, showed the ex flames side by side onscreen for the first time after their split. In a prolonged scene, Julia and Joshua are shown trading lines in an emotional exchange that turned out to be written by them. The song and music video (which has more than 35 million views on YouTube, as of this writing) about letting go of relationships that were never meant to last dropped on Valentine’s Day, much to the tears of JoshLia fans everywhere.
Photo Credit: Collage from ABS-CBN News
Rico Blanco and Maris Racal
Maris Racal has been a regular buzzmaker as of late due to her social media presence. However, come July this year, she shocked everyone when she came forward with something completely unsuspected. She and fellow artist Rico Blanco, otherwise known as the former frontman of iconic rock band Rivermaya, revealed that they were in a relationship, making sure to highlight that age shouldn’t deter a budding romance. That’s because Maris and Rico have a 25-year age gap, something that many of their fans had mixed opinions about. The musical sweethearts have known each other for years and have occasionally collaborated on music. In 2022, though, they are working together in the ABS-CBN series “The Goodbye Girl.”
Photo Credit: @mariesteller
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Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla
Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, collectively known as KathNiel, hit their 10th anniversary as a love team this year. To celebrate this milestone, they released an hour-and-a-half long documentary, titled “KathNiel: Isang Dekada, on Kathryn’s YouTube channel. There, the couple recounted their journey as newbies in the industry, as cast mates, as well as eventual real-life love interests to each other. It also features footage from different times in their lives and touching messages from close family and friends. KathNiel’s much-awaited comeback series, “2G2BT” (“2 Good 2 Be True”) will be released in 2022.
Photo Credit: @bernardokath | Read more about what we loved about their documentary here.
Ellen Adarna and Derek Ramsay
Ellen Adarna and Derek Ramsay have consistently made headlines on their own in the past years. But when the public directed their attention this year, it was for something completely unexpected; the pair turned out to be an item. A whirlwind romance, soon after, they were engaged and are now married. Their love story started out with a date, and to their surprise, one date spawned several more, and in no time, they were in love. 2021, according to these newlyweds, was a year of finding love when you least expected it, showing us all that not even a pandemic can get in the way of a happily ever after. The couple’s Instagram accounts, which are full of photos of each other, pretty much serve as super sweet timelines of one of this year’s biggest romances.
Photo Credit: @patdy11 via @maria.elena.adarna | Read our article on their wedding here.
Janella Salvador, Markus Paterson, and baby Jude
Janella Salvador and Markus Paterson fans were the first to take a sip of celeb tea this year. After confirming their relationship in September 2020, they made buzz again on January 5, 2021 when they revealed that they’re already parents. And they did the baby reveal in the most heart-melting way ever. On her YouTube channel, Janella put together an extended baby reveal video that was one half open letter, one half art piece, giving viewers a deeply intimate look at her pregnancy journey and her initial experiences of motherhood and childbirth itself, too. Janella and Markus soon shared on social media their other milestones with their little one: a look back on her baby shower and maternity shoot, Jude’s first flight from the UK (where he was born) to Manila, her first Mother’s Day celebration marked with a special Metro.Style cover feature, and Jude’s first birthday. The first-time mom is back at work, as last November, she was also announced to star as Valentina in the much-awaited “Darna: The TV Series.”
Photo Credit: @superjanella | Read our 2021 cover story on Janella and Jude here.
Elisse Joson, McCoy de Leon, and baby Felize
Local showbiz said hello to another baby in October. Elisse Joson and McCoy De Leon announced first-time parenthood through a “Pinoy Big Brother” guesting, revealing that they now have a baby girl they named Felize McKenzie. The couple kept the pregnancy a secret until they were ready to share the special news with the public. Elisse and McCoy have been an item since 2016. From being a McLisse love team, they became a real-life couple, broke up, and got back together. They confirmed their reconciliation in July 2021. This year marked a lot of firsts for the couple, including Elisse and Felize’s first digital cover feature with Metro.Style and their first Christmas as a family.
Photo Credit: @elissejosonn | Read our 2021 cover story on Elisse and Felize here.
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Julia Barretto and Gerald Anderson
There was another celebrity couple that lit the Internet on fire this year: none other than Julia Barretto and Gerald Anderson. No one needs reminding about the controversy that surrounded this now-official pair; 2019 was when the drama all began, with people accusing these “Between Maybes” stars of getting together under less than ideal circumstances. But, two years later in 2021, Gerald had gained the confidence to talk about Julia as his reel-to-real girlfriend, being the first of the two to admit their relationship publicly and in a highly-anticipated, tell-all interview with Boy Abunda, at that. Afterwards, Julia did her own version of reveal of her love for Gerald by making space for him in her Instagram feed with a birthday tribute for him, confirming all talk that these two are, indeed, happily together.
Photo Credit: @juliabarretto | Read our 2021 cover story on Gerald Anderson here.
Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano
Love teams have always been part and parcel of local celebrity culture but this year, we saw a couple of newcomers overhaul our idea of the phenomenon. Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano crashed into the scene with their massive hit “He’s Into Her” where they played the show’s leads. The series was based on a Wattpad story and best-selling book by Maxinejiji, and proved to be one of the year’s most successful primetime shows that even made it to Netflix. Because of the show’s success, a second season was announced in August and will be available for streaming in 2022. Though presented as a traditional love team at first, Donny and Belle surprised everyone as they spoke about their careers with maturity; they’ve expressed wanting to explore other roles individually to make room for personal growth while still balancing this with meeting expectations of DonBelle love team fans. They also star in the 2021 film “Love Is Color Blind.” They had their first-ever cover feature together with Metro.Style.
Photo Credit: Ria Regino | Read our 2021 cover story on DonBelle here.
Beatrice Luigi Gomez
Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez from Cebu City made it to the Top 5 at the 70th Miss Universe competition held in Eilat, Israel this year. She was among semi-finalists from Colombia (Valeria Ayos), South Africa (Lalela Mswane), and Paraguay (Nadia Ferreira), with India’s Harnaaz Sandhu ultimately taking home the crown and the Miss Universe 2021 title. Aside from her impressive finish at the pageant, Beatrice Luigi also made Miss Universe Philippines history by becoming the first openly gay titleholder. She also joined Metro’s star-studded lineup of cover stars this year.
Photo Credit: Dookie Ducay | Read our 2021 cover story on Beatrice Luigi here.
Marian Rivera
Another Filipina played a major role at the Miss Universe 2021 pageant. Actress Marian Rivera was one of its judges, joining the selection committee alongside Lori Harvey, Iris Mittenaere, Adriana Lima, Adamari López, and Urvashi Rautela. In a playful moment, the actress was caught teaching fellow judges the moves to her 2009 single, “Sabay Sabay Tayo,” bringing joy to her Pinoy fans closely watching the night’s events unfold. Oh, and Marian's outfits in Israel were truly impeccable, too!
Photo Credit: @marianrivera | Read about the Miss Universe 2021 selection committee here.
Lead photos from Metro.Style archive, @hidilyndiaz, @elissejosonn, and @niceprintphoto
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