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Ryan Bang talks about relationship with parents, non-showbiz girlfriend

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Mary Ann Bardinas

He may not have at least a drop of Filipino blood in him, but there’s no doubt that <a href='https://ent.abs-cbn.com/itsshowtime' target='_blank'>It’s Showtime</a> host Ryan Bang is definitely Pinoy at heart. And we are able to see it in the 15 years that he’s been in the local entertainment scene, which he revisited in his recent interview with Karen Davila in her YouTube channel.The interview was held at the building complex that he rents in Diliman, Quezon City, which houses the businesses and offices that he owns, including his Korean fine dining restaurant and the horchata café of his non-showbiz girlfriend Paola Huyong.Their conversation began with his humble beginnings in his home country, South Korea, and how the hardships that he and his family went through pushed him to where he is at present and inspired his love for the Filipino people.He was born to a well-off family, with his champion billiard player father owning three billiards centers and his mother a plain housewife. Life was then great for them, until South Korea was hit by an extreme financial crisis from 1997 to 1998, which completely took a toll on their livelihood and led to the divorce of his parents. He chose to live with his mother, who took good care of him while also juggling odd jobs just to make both ends meet.His journey here in the Philippines started when he found himself fascinated by its beauty through a book lent to him by one of his friends. He was sent by his mother here to take a vacation and to learn English, and was fostered by a couple who are friends with his mom.Since he had little to no knowledge of either the English and Filipino languages, his early years here were tough as he had a hard time communicating with the people around him. He also didn’t have an English name then and only came up with “Ryan” after someone called him by it.Despite how challenging his life used to be here, he was still able to survive because of the kindness of the Filipinos he met along the way. He might be living in the gated community of Bel-Air in Makati City with his foster parents, yet he went to a public school in Leveriza, Pasay City since that was what his single mom could only afford. However, just when things were already going quite well for him here, Ryan was compelled to go back to his home country.His mom sent him back to the Philippines as life would be tougher for him in South Korea and had him pursue his studies in an international school while living in one of his classmates’ house in Leveriza. Impressed by his humor every time he did a speech as the president of the student council, another classmate of him, whose father is late APO Hiking Society member Danny Javier and sister is <a href='https://ent.abs-cbn.com/pbbs10' target='_blank'>Pinoy Big Brother</a> writer Justine Javier, encouraged him to audition for the Teen Clash Edition in 2010.Ryan successfully made it through the auditions and became a housemate, in which he was dubbed the “Simpatikong Leader ng Korea”. He was among the “Teen-ternational” housemates and was hailed the 2nd Big Placer by the end of the competition. And, as what they say, the rest is history.With all the blessings that he has been reaping ever since his showbiz career started, he told Karen that he owes to his mom and dad who he both honors and takes pride of so much despite what happened to their family. He went on to impart that his father, who has been working as a taxi driver, never accepts payment from Filipino passengers as his way of showing gratitude for the love we’ve shown to his beloved son.Being an only child of his parents, he exerted efforts for them to have at least a civil relationship, such as creating a group chat in a messaging app that includes the three of them. Besides, he also made them promise to attend his wedding someday here in the Philippines.Moreover, it has always been his dream to at least see them together or bond with both of them at the same time, which finally happened when he brought his girlfriend Paola to South Korea in 2023 to meet them. With how he loves his family despite their current situation, it seems that he is able to inspire Paola to develop a closer relationship with her family, too, to which her family is very much thankful for to him.Since he grew up under her care, Ryan has developed a tighter bond with his mom. Thus, he made sure to give her a comfortable life when his showbiz career took off. With the help of his Mommy Vice Ganda, who guided him and provided him with some of his needs for free, he was able to save enough money to buy his mom a condominium unit and help her establish her business. He also used to send his father money, with the latter declined as he advised him to donate it to charity in the Philippines as his way of showing his love for him.“Kaya ako nagwo-work hard for my parents kasi ayokong dahil sa pera, masisira ang pamilya, lalo na ang pamilya ng Pilipino. ‘Yon ang pinakamasakit e. So, ‘yon ang pinag-pray ko kay Lord na, ‘gusto ko, Lord, gamitin mo ako para maraming Pilipino ang may trabaho,” he told the broadcast journalist.Ryan then recounted how his closeness with Vice, whom he has considered as his second mom, as well as how his journey on <a href='https://ent.abs-cbn.com/itsshowtime' target='_blank'>It’s Showtime</a> started. According to him, he was supposed to go back to school after PBB, but the management told him that he had to guest in different programs of ABS-CBN as part of his contract as a Big 4. And among those were <a href='https://ent.abs-cbn.com/itsshowtime' target='_blank'>It’s Showtime</a>, where he started out as a hurado when it was just a mere talent show, then eventually became one of its hosts when it became a full-fledged noontime show.Amused and inspired by the Unkabogable Star, he did everything to be close to him, which included inviting himself to his condo unit where they ate together and their friendship started. He also had a chance to meet his grandfather, a former soldier, to whom he played Korean chess with during his leisure time after <a href='https://ent.abs-cbn.com/itsshowtime' target='_blank'>It’s Showtime</a>.With how he has gone popular both in the Philippines and South Korea, premiere Korean talent agencies actually offered him to work with them. But he chose to decline all of them since aside from the fact that he loves <a href='https://ent.abs-cbn.com/itsshowtime' target='_blank'>It’s Showtime</a> and the Filipinos more, he also wishes to gain more experiences before embarking on a new journey in his home country.He also talked about how he used to be brokenhearted many times, including the one he had with Yeng Constantino more than a decade ago, and how he’s able to find the love of his life, Paola. Their mutual love for football and arts are what brought them closer to each other, as well as their unwavering faith in God as Christians. Thus, out of the guys who courted her, it was him who she and her parents liked the most.Since they’ve been so happy and in love with each other, not to mention that they’re building their businesses together, he implied that he already sees himself getting married to Paola when the right time comes. He also shared that Paola’s parents will actually go to South Korea to meet his parents.The interview ended with Karen asking Ryan about his favorite Bible verse, which according to him is Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” For his message to everyone, he reminded us to be grateful for the small and big things and to be prayerful and optimistic amid adversaries.

Ryan Bang talks about how the hardships that he and his family went through pushed him to where he is at present.