More than three months since “Pinoy Big Brother” hailed its latest big winners—the well-loved duo of Kapamilya and Kapuso stars Brent Manalo and Mika Salamanca of the “PBB Celebrity Collab Edition”—the iconic yellow and blue house opened its doors again to a new batch of celebrity housemates for the “PBB Collab 2.0” last October 25, Saturday.
Apart from the 20 “Kabataang Pinoy” celebrity housemates whose stories behind the camera will surely inspire, amuse, surprise, and touch us as they open up and share their lives in the next 100 days, we had also witnessed the return of Luis Manzano, a member of “Pamilya ni Kuya,” who we hadn’t seen for a very long time on the show.
WATCH: Day 1: Luis Manzano, nagbabalik sa pamilya ni Kuya! | PBB Collab 2.0
As another edition of “PBB” has commenced in time for its 20th anniversary, let us first take a trip down memory lane and look back on the previous line-ups of hosts who endeared us and greeted us with “Hello, Philippines! Hello, world!” through the years in this feature!
“Kuya’s Angels”
Those who got to watch the early years of the reality show can probably recall that the majority of the past editions were hosted by the terrific trio of Bianca Gonzalez, Toni Gonzaga, and Mariel Rodriguez, fondly dubbed as “Kuya’s Angels.”
Among the three, it was Toni and Mariel who had been part of the show since Day 1, while Bianca joined them after her stint as one of the housemates and eventual 3rd Big Placer of the inaugural “PBB Celebrity Edition.” Mariel and Toni eventually became houseguests in the next editions, as Big Brother set them off to execute special missions inside his house to further get to know not just the housemates but also them.
Prior to stepping down as the main host in 2022, Toni was usually assigned to provide audiences with updates regarding the housemates’ latest ganaps inside the house during the weeknight airings. But more than that, she is remembered for bringing ‘jitters’ to the housemates and their supporters alike, for it was she who was tasked to announce the list of nominees every Sunday and of the evictee/s every Saturday.
Mariel, on the other hand, hosted several weeknight episodes, but her main task was to either host the late afternoon spin-off, “PBB Double Up Über,” or its late-night counterpart, “PBB UpLate.” She left the show in 2010 to pursue other endeavors, then made a comeback in 2015 through the sixth season entitled “PBB 737,” which served as her reunion with Toni and Bianca.
Meanwhile, Bianca’s first task was to take over Mariel for the “PBB Teen Edition 1 Update” and “PBB UpLate,” as the latter had to assume the role of the primetime host until the Big Night, which was usually done by Toni, who had to temporarily leave the show due to her prior commitments.
Bianca is the only one left from the original “Kuya’s Angels,” following the departure of Toni and Mariel, and has been the frontrunner of the hosts since “PBB Kumunity Season 10.” She, along with co-hosts Robi Domingo, Kim Chiu, Melai Cantiveros, and Enchong Dee, was introduced as the “Pamilya ni Kuya.”
Other celebrity hosts
Aside from “Kuya’s Angels,” there were also several celebrities who had joined them in hosting “PBB.”
Veteran host Willie Revillame used to accompany Mariel and Toni every nomination and eviction night of the first-ever “PBB” regular edition, as well as during its highly anticipated Big Night.
“Ang Pambansang Host” Luis Manzano first joined “PBB Celebrity Edition 1” and was tapped to be the alternate host and co-host of Toni for the weeknight episodes and later returned to “PBB Teen Edition Plus” in 2008. After seventeen years, he makes an astonishing comeback as the newest addition to the “PBB Celebrity Collab Edition 2.0” hosts.
First regular season 2nd Big Placer Jayson Gainza was able to showcase his hosting chops when he was chosen to be the adjudicator of the memorable “Teen Debate” between “PBB Teen Edition 1” housemates Gerald Anderson and Mikee Lee inside the house. He later became the “Man of the Street” reporter for “PBB Season 2.”
Right after snagging the Big Winner title, Season 2 housemate Bea Saw immediately scored a job as the “PBB Updates” reporter.
Fresh faces then graced our screens during the “PBB Unlimited” edition in 2011 as Martin Concio and “PBB Teen Edition Plus” runner-up Robi Domingo completed the roster of hosts led by Toni and Bianca. Since then, Robi has gone on to become one of the permanent hosts of the highly successful reality show. “PBB Celebrity Edition 1” runner-up John Prats hosted “PBB Teen Edition 4” in 2012 and later reprised his role in the “PBB All In” season in 2014.
After winning the “PBB Unlimited” edition, Slater Young was introduced as one of the hosts of the “All In” edition but was later moved to host the latter’s accompanying online show alongside twins Joj and Jai Agpangan of “PBB Teen Edition 4.” Toni's sister, Alex Gonzaga, got to host the first night of the “PBB All In” season after Big Brother surprisingly tapped her to be his celebrity houseguest. Alex continued her hosting stint for the season’s “Über” show as soon as her stay inside the house ended and went on to reprise her role in the “PBB Otso” season.
Enchong had the same fate as Alex when he was introduced as the new host of “PBB 737” in 2015. Since it was part of the reality program’s tradition to stay in the house first and experience how it is to become a housemate, Kuya declared him a houseguest. When he went back to the outside world, he returned to his hosting stint as the “Homeboy ni Kuya,” who’s tasked to provide hourly updates to the viewers.
In the “PBB Otso” edition, former Big Winners Melai Cantiveros (“PBB Double Up”) and Kim Chiu (“PBB Teen Edition 1”) joined Toni, Robi, and Alex as new hosts. Richard Juan of the “PBB 737” season was chosen to host the online updates for the “PBB Connect” and “PBB Kumunity Season 10” seasons, while “PBB Otso” Batch 4 ex-housemate Sky Quizon hosted the weekend edition of the online companion shows for “PBB Kumunity Season 10.”
Around two years since her stint as one of the celebrity housemates of the “PBB Kumunity Season 10” in 2022, former child star Alexa Ilacad became “Ang Gen Z Bestie ni Kuya” after she was chosen to become one of the hosts of the “PBB Gen 11” edition, joining Bianca, Robi, Enchong, Kim, and Melai.
And as ABS-CBN and GMA joined forces for the historic “PBB Celebrity Collab Edition” in 2025, 10 artists each from their respective talent arms—Star Magic and Sparkle—had to live under one roof for many days as housemates. At the same time, Kapuso stars Gabbi Garcia and Mavy Legaspi were also introduced as the newest members of “Pamilya ni Kuya” and were given the monikers “Ang Kapuso It Girl ni Kuya” and “Ang Kapuso Royal Katropa ni Kuya,” respectively.
Mavy has been Alexa’s co-host in the weekly pre-show segment titled “PBB Celebrity Collab Onlineverse”, while Gabbi has been tasked to deliver brief updates twice a day during weekdays and to sometimes join either Bianca or Robi in the primetime episodes on weeknights.
As Bianca, Robi, Melai, Kim, Enchong, Alexa, Gabbi, and Mavy reprise their roles in “PBB Collab 2.0”, they are joined by “Ang Pambansang Host” Luis Manzano not just in welcoming the new batch of housemates to the Bahay ni Kuya, but also in delivering the latest updates during the weeknight and weekend episodes.
Show your love and support to the ever-growing “Pamilya ni Kuya” and the newest batch of celebrity housemates by not missing an episode of “PBB Collab 2.0,” which can be viewed online via livestreams on the PBB YouTube Channel, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), and iWant.