While basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines, these celebrities prefer to play other games. In this gallery, check out the Kapamilya stars who are actually athletic in real life, too, and who play sports as a hobby!
Enchong Dee
Enchong Dee is a three-time UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) Most Valuable Player in swimming. During his athlete days, he did not only prove that he’s a great swimmer, but also showed that he’s one of the best as he won seven gold medals in a single UAAP season. Besides, he brought home several recognitions from international swimming competitions, too!
Nowadays, he still swims but mainly for fun. Enchong’s tip for those who want to go back to swimming or for those who want to try it out is that they need to enjoy and love the sport despite how hard it is and how busy they can get.
Erich Gonzales
Erich Gonzales learned to surf for her 2017 movie “Siargao” with Jericho Rosales and Jasmine Curtis-Smith. Since the famous island is a well-known tourist spot for surfing, the La Vida Lena star did not miss the opportunity to try the water sport herself. We can even see old photos on Instagram where she showed off her sizzling beach bod while enjoying the sun and the waves. Since then, Erich officially earned the title of “surfer chick”.
Jericho Rosales
Another surf enthusiast is Jericho Rosales, who considers Catanduanes as his favorite surfing spot. It’s definitely not a secret that the seasoned actor enjoy the outdoors as he also loves to ride his motorbike during his leisure time. Probably that’s one of the reasons why he fell in love with his wife Kim Jones who’s just as adventurous as him. It’s actually normal seeing Jericho at surfing spots like La Union and Siargao because we know that surfing is already part of his lifestyle and that he considers the coast as his home and safe place. In one of his Instagram posts, he even described his motorbike and surfing board as his "life essentials”.
During the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses in 2020, the actor and his wife made rounds in the news after they used their surf boards and flair in surfing in saving people in their neighborhood who were stranded at their homes.
Kim Chiu
Kim Chiu is a huge volleyball fan and enjoys playing the sport herself. In the 2019 Star Magic women’s volleyball All-Star Games, Kim led the Red Team to victory! Besides, who would forget that she portrayed volleyball superstar Sisi Rondina when her inspiring life story got featured on Maalaala Mo Kaya.
Aside from playing volleyball, the Chinita Princess also finds joy and fulfillment in joining runs from 10k runs to 16k, until she progressed to 21k.
As athletic as Kim may seem, did you know that the It’s Showtime host actually has asthma. That’s why she was told by her doctor to avoid doing strenuous physical activities. But that didn’t stop Kim from maintaining a healthy lifestyle and doing the things that she loves.
Piolo Pascual
Piolo Pascual’s secret for staying a dreamy heartthrob despite already being in his 40s could be playing rounds of badminton! Since badminton can be played in pairs, he would sometimes team up with his son Iñigo Pascual. In fact, Piolo was seen competing in a badminton match with Iñigo for a special sports event last year where they also got to interact with their colleagues.
Matteo Guidicelli
If you don’t see Matteo on television, he’s probably out there joining sports competitions. He prepared for his first-ever triathlon in Naga a month after his father bought him a bike. It’s safe to say that triathlon or sports in general will always be part of Matteo’s life as he would even say that a day without doing sports or just any physical activity is a pretty useless day.
Jake Cuenca
Jake Cuenca also earned his abs by joining triathlons. He began to fall in love with the sports during the filming of the daytime sports drama Ikaw Lang Ang Iibigin alongside Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson.
The Kapamilya actor was actually thankful to them for inspiring him to be active in sports, "’Yong teleserye din namin ni Kim, Gerald and Coleen tungkol siya sa triathlon. Siguro godsend din itong project. Sobrang na-in love ako triathlon na ngayon ay nag-sign up na ako para sa totoong race. So parang sinapuso ko na siya," Jake shared during his interview on Magandang Buhay.
And that same year, he and Gerald competed in the international triathlon competition Ironman 70.3 held in Subic.
Gerald Anderson
Seeking a new challenge and out of curiosity, Gerald Anderson decided to try out triathlon in 2015, and later in 2017, he portrayed an aspiring triathlete in his reunion project with Kim Chiu in Ikaw Lang Ang Iibigin. Moreover, we’ve also seen him play basketball in a professional league in the country.
However, aside from joining triathlons and playing basketball, did you know that the actor also tried to play parkour? He was introduced to the sport when he was tapped to play the titular character in the 2009 series Tiagong Akyat, which required him to do stunts himself.
JM de Guzman
JM de Guzman is undoubtedly a tough fighter, as seen in some of the clips of his mixed martial arts moves and sparring sessions that he shares on Instagram. Considering the gym as his second home, he can actually spend hours boxing, wrestling, and circuit training during his free time.
The actor even found a way to exhibit his MMA flair when he portrayed Pinoy MMA champ Ramon Gonzales in an episode of MMK last year. JM had a rigorous preparation for this role, as he took MMA training from Ramon himself to efficiently immerse into the character. Just like these Kapamilya stars, it is never too late to try out something new regardless of your age!
How about you, Kapamilya? What sport do you enjoy or aspire to play?