Celebrities, Music, TV & TV Shows
Iya Villania: Beauty Inside Out
by Valerie Tort
Iya Villania is one of the mainstream talents in the Philippine showbiz industry that started as a commercial and print ad model.
Her features that resembled like an anime figure is Iya’s stepping stone in becoming one of the hottest model and product endorser especially for Globe ads. Not only her stardom was due to the “anime look” but also her screen name Iya.
“Iya’s not my real name. It’s actually the name of an Anime character. They presented me as ‘Iya’ when I first appeared on TV because they thought the name suited me. I looked like an Anime character daw kasi!” Iya recalled.
‘Raelene Elaine Villania’ is her name known to some of her friends and classmates, ‘Bubba’ is her nickname with her family, and simply ‘Iya’ for her loving and supportive fans.
Music was close to her heart even in her formative years. She loved participating in school concerts, church choirs, and would sing to her family during one of her “home concert performances.” The bubbly Iya continued her passion for music by performing on stage with one of the Philippine singing talent Geneva Cruz in a concert tour in her hometown, Australia. Since her mother was one of the people who made the show possible, she was xxx to do the front act of Geneva’s concert.
Luckily, she became one of the MYX VJs. “Being a VJ is, for me, the perfect job. I can be myself. I can do what I love doing. just playing around with music. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, because I used to see Donita Rose and I’m. like, ‘Wow, what she’s doing is so fun! I love music!.’”
Before becoming a VJ, a hosting job opportunity opened its doors along with numerous product endorsements and TV shows that made her shine.
“School ends in December in Australia and starts in June here in the Philippines. So for six months, I did nothing but attend VTR’s. At first, I felt bad because I wasn’t getting any callbacks. I even began to think something was wrong with me,” Iya recalled.
Thanks to Arnold Vegafria, the talent manager who spotted her in Australia and to her perseverance in going to endless VTRs, she landed modeling stints for Globe, Sketchers, Coca Cola, Bench, Palmolive, and Silka Papaya.
Soon, she was launched as one of the GMA7 talents in their youth-oriented show Click. After some time, she landed a hosting gig for Gamechannel and a full-blown acting career in her debut movie A Beautiful Life. She still embraced acting with open arms, even if her first love was music.
“I didn’t quite dream of being in showbiz when I was a kid,” the host of the Sunday primetime show U Can Dance said.
Iya Villania is also a goal-oriented person even outside the Philippine showbiz industry. She knows what she wanted after her career is over.
“It’s fun, but it’s a dangerous business, really. There are new people constantly coming in. A lot of people in show biz my age make the mistake of thinking that it’s gonna be here forever, that they can live off show biz for the rest of their lives. Some of them stop pursuing their education,” Iya said.
Iya Villania made sure that she would be prepared when the time comes she needs to say goodbye to showbizness.
“I keep my priorities straight. I promised my family and myself that I’d study. So I’m keeping my word. I like studying,” Iya said.
The model-celebrity made sure she can juggle up her school commitments alongside her modeling, hosting, and acting stints.
“The reason I took up AB Psych in De La Salle University is because if ever I can become a full-time student again, and I really want to take up Law or Medicine, I can always shift to BS. I’d like to be a doctor, or maybe anything that has to do with helping people,” Iya confessed her plans after showbizness.
“I’m scared to dissapoint my parents and my priority is to finish my studies. That’s the reason why I’m picky with my commitments,” Iya Villania said.
Studying is also a therapeutic activity for the model-host-actress. Keeping in touch with her normal life is one of the best gifts school can give her.
“I think it’s probably one of the biggest reasons why I stay real and also feel so normal. because I’m around so many students and not artistas, So It makes me feel like I’m one of them, because I am. The only difference is that I work on TV. and people see me on TV,” Iya confesed.
Iya Villania is a real and normal person valuing education and every blessing she did receive.
At the end of her typical day, Iya bows down her head and thanks the Lord for all the blessings she received.
Tags: Iya Villania, Philippine Celebrities, Philippine Entertainment News
12 Jul 2007 Valerie Tort 1 comment
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