Remember when life was all about racing home after school and catching your favorite teleserye or music video on TV? Back when social media wasn’t such a big of thing yet, and our idea of the ultimate kilig was watching our childhood crushes light up the TV screen?
Well, turns out, the “Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Collab Edition” ex-housemates had their own share of those early celeb crush moments too. We got the tea straight from the housemates themselves—so get ready for a dose of nostalgia as they look back on the stars who made their younger hearts skip a beat.
Girls who grew up in the late '90s to early 2000s era know that Piolo Pascual was that heartthrob. Of course, he made it to the childhood crush list of the only millennial in the group, Klarisse de Guzman, who added that Sam Milby also gave her major kilig feels during her younger years.
Speaking of Piolo, Pinoys would never forget how he and his fellow 'Hunks' basically defined 'gwapo' in the early 2000s. Before the rise of K-drama oppas of today’s gen, there was Piolo and his gang setting the bar. One of those fans who can totally vouch for that era is Esnyr Ranollo, who revealed that his childhood crush was none other than Diether Ocampo.
Some of us definitely had a crush on a superhero at some point. Bianca De Vera probably imagined herself as the princess in distress, waiting to be saved by her crush, Lastikman. She also had a crush on Gerald Anderson—the certified heartthrob of the first-ever “PBB” teens batch and every tween’s ultimate leading man.
Sometimes, just one look at your superhero crush is all it takes to believe in love and legends. Maybe that’s exactly what River Joseph felt when he was mesmerized by Marian Rivera’s beauty and told himself, “Siya talaga si Darna!”
Meanwhile, a young Brent Manalo admired the effortless gorgeousness of Anne Curtis, who now stars as Mia Hernandez in “It’s Okay To Not Be Okay.” Who didn’t go through an ‘Anne Curtis’ crush phase? Even now, she remains one of local showbiz’s ultimate goddesses.
Speaking of crushes that defined an era, Cristine Reyes was the dream girl for a lot of guys in the late 2000s, including Dustin Yu.
Meanwhile, Shuvee Etrata was a Daniel Padilla stan in her early fangirl days, but her admiration eventually turned to Donny Pangilinan. In fact, we all saw how hard she tried not to melt when Donny visited the “PBB Collab” house.
AC Bonifacio’s teen era was definitely a golden age for her, thanks to Daniel and Enrique Gil, the gentlemen who defined teen rom-com that time. Living in Canada back then, her family was subscribed to TFC, so she grew up watching these Kapamilya heartthrobs from afar. Even now, her fangirl heart could talk about Daniel's "Got To Believe" with so much kilig!
Charlie Fleming mentioned she’s had a huge crush on Donny Pangilinan and Jeremiah Lisbo since she was 10. She’s 16 now, so safe to say these two have been her ultimate heartthrobs for nearly half her life.