For the first time since she became a Kapamilya, Toni Gonzaga finally agreed to host a daily noontime show via Happy Yipee Yehey. Apparently, she refrained from doing so to avoid conflict when she first transferred to ABS-CBN in 2004.
“Sinabi ko nun kay Ms. Linggit (Tan) na ‘wag po muna [akong ilagay sa noontime show] kasi masyadong maaga. Sinabi ko yun in respect dun sa dating programa na kinabibilangan ko [which is Eat Bulaga]. Although nandun talaga yung level of comfortability ko when it comes to hosting, kasi mas dun ako nasanay, dun ako nagsimula. So instead I did ASAP, which is a variety show. So I’ve waited six years for this to happen,” she said during the grand presscon of "Happy Yipee Yehey!" last February 8.
As a matter of fact, Willie Revillame also asked her to co-host the now-defunct noontime show, Wowowee, at that time.
“I remember even si Mr. Willie Revillame, he approached me nung bago pa lang ako na, ‘Mag Wowowee ka na, i-try mo na.’ Sabi ko, ‘E respeto na lang dun sa dati kong show na kinabibilangan. Tapos nung dumating ‘tong offer na ‘to, ang hirap tumanggi at sabihing ayoko. Kasi I’m taking it as a blessing para pagkatiwalaan ng management sa isang ganitong programa kasama sila kuya John (Estrada), kuya Randy (Santiago), Mariel (Rodriguez) and the rest of the cast. Ang hirap-hirap magsabi ng no, so yun.”
Toni further explained that it’s not as if having her as host is a huge threat to Happie Yippie Yehey’s rival program.
As it is, she and her co-hosts would rather focus on doing their job than worry about TV ratings.
“Siyempre isa na pong institusyon ang katulad ng Eat Bulaga na 30 years na naging bahagi ng iba’t ibang henerasyon. Ang sa amin ho kasi, ang main goal namin hindi na po makipag-compete. We’re just here to give an alternative to make the people happy. At the end of the day, kaya kami nagkasama-sama is because gusto namin magpasaya ng kapamilya kasi ‘di ba nawalan po tayo ng noontime show. So ngayon babalik kami kami para makapagbigay ng pera, magbigay ng saya at in a way makapag-inspire ng mga kapamilya natin araw-araw.”
But she did not deny the fact that her movie with Vic Sotto got cancelled because of her decision to be part of Happy Yipee Yehey.
“Yeah, hindi na siya tuloy because of this. Ganon po talaga, maraming mga bagay na kung hindi para sa atin, hindi para sa atin. Yung [movie ko noon with] Robin Padilla ’di natuloy, tapos ito rin, so medyo nasasanay naman tayo d’yan (laughs). Pero ang pangit naman kung ’di natutuloy dahil walang kapalit. Ang maganda naman dun, kaya ’di natuloy e dahil may maganda namang kapalit. So tignan na lang natin yung good effect or yung brighter side of things,” she added.
Toni also answered the issue of possible overexposure since she’ll be hosting three shows in all— Happy Yipee Yehey on weekdays plus ASAP and The Buzz on Sundays.
“Yung schedule ko siyempre may nag-aayos po nun. Regarding sa over exposure, siyempre hindi pa naman po tapos ang lahat, ‘di pa lumalabas ang noontime show, so alam ko magagawan ng paraan yung ibang program na kasama ako. Yung ABS-CBN management ang nag-decide sa akin na mag noontime show ako, so sila rin po siguro ang mag-aayos ng proper management ng oras tsaka exposure ko.” (report from Rachelle Siazon, Push.com.ph)
