In her guesting for TWBA, Jackie Gonzaga shared interesting stories about her life-changing stint as a dancer in It’s Showtime.
Before she became one of the hosts of It’s Showtime, Jacky rose to fame when she started bantering with Vice Ganda in the Miss Q & A segment wherein she’s originally tasked to hold the bowl of questions for the candidates. Jackie was able to ride in the Unakabogable Star’s spontaneous wit, and the results were hilarious, ‘kilig’ skits and more following for the pretty “Ate Girl.”
Looking back on her auditions for the noontime show, Jackie mentioned that there were about fifty aspirants and only seven were chosen. Then-fresh graduate, Jackie thought she wanted to just take a break through dancing. “Parang sobrang drained ko po. Parang napiga po lahat ng ugat sa utak ko. Gusto ko po talagang magpahinga muna, huwag munang ituloy ang pinag-aralan ko,” she said.
She took up International Studies in college. Although she dreams of becoming a flight attendant, she had other plans then. Learning about her decision to pursue dancing, her parents’ reaction was, “Mag-sasayaw ka? Nag-aral ka pa!” But it would turn out that Jackie was simply gravitated towards her destiny.
She joined It’s Showtime’s dance group in 2015 and started gaining popularity in 2017. For Jackie, who never dreamt of fame, the turn of events was surprising and overwhelming. “Noong nag-Showtime po ako, hindi ko naman po ine-expect or wala po akong goal na magiging sikat ako. Ang goal ko lang talaga ay maging happy ‘yung puso ko sa pagsasayaw ko.”
On winning the “madlang pipol’s” hearts and the newfound fame, Jackie said, “Nao-overwhelm ako sobra kasi dati parang hindi naman nila alam ‘yung pangalan ko. Ngayon ‘pag papasok na ako ng stage, naghihiyawan na sila.
Jackie had a background in cheerdancing and hip-hop. Joining It’s Showtime pushed her to explore other genres as well.