The radio’s fault actually. There was a Backstreet Boys’ song that was played and all so sudden I remembered the Rexona deodorant commercial. Yes, that commercial where five cute guys in white towels were singing in the showers, lipsynching to BB’s I Want It That Way. Immediately after that, they were cast as a singing group, getting slots in noontime shows [ABS-CBN’s Magandang Tanghali Bayan and teen shows [ABS-CBN’s Berks]. After their meteroic rise, came the sudden fall. Some attribute it to the popularity of Meteor Garden , that Asian series of the hot F4 guys [think Vanness Wu, and I’m not sure how you spell it]. Whatever happened to the guys? Here’s some update I gathered:
Jordan Herrera
Real name Jordan Hermogenes, he was the most popular in the group. He was a 2nd year Hotel & Restaurant Management student at the St. Jude College in Manila when he became a product of bikini contests, the most legit of which was the 2002 Mossimo Bikini Summit [1st Ru to a huge Carlo Maceda in tight Mossimo bikini]. As the most controversial in the batch [ he was linked to a rich g-a-y benefactor], Jordan went on to star in Viva Films’ bold flicks, latest of which was Lupe where he went nude outdoors. Last I heard he is now in the cast of Pedro Penduko, ABS-CBN’s fantasy series about the Filipino myth, as one of the bit players. Yet, one will not recognize him there as he was cast a merman, the one with the prosthetics on his face. He has also taken in some weight, as can be seen in the pic below, which was shot on location for the series.
Greg Martin
He was the hunkiest in the batch, I guess. Greg Ronquillo Filipovich, half-Serbian and half-Filipino, was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY when he came here to try his luck in modeling. Before he got cast as one of the leads in the Rexona TVC, Greg was a practicing Emergency Medical Technician in NY, a martial arts expert and a breakdancer. In Manila, Greg enroled himself at the now-defunct Thames International School in a Business Administration course. After the demise of P4, he went to Thailand and Singapore to try his luck at modeling. Apparently he is back in NY. If you want to see how he looks like now, watch the video of Bebot by the Black Eyed Peas, where he was selected as a “background talent.” [As an aside, the mother of Apl.De.Ap there was played by former Eat Bulaga comic Louella Albornoz.]
Jay Salas
The cutest, for me, Jay Tugas was an established DJ in Wherelse Disco before he got cast as Rexona boy. With Spanish-Filipino blood, this cute guy was a graduate of St. Benedict’s College with a degree in BSMB Entrepreneurship. He is now based in Brooklyn, NY employed with a company that sells baby couture. Pictures below are fairly recent and he has not changed a bit.
Frank Garcia
The vain one. Frank Taunenbaum, half-Dutch and half-Filipino first appeared in TVCs as the charming guy in the Sarsi cola commercial. After P4, he went to Thailand to do some modeling. When he came back, he did the cough-and-colds series of commercials, which re-established him in the advertising market of talents. He has also done TV appearances. Photo below was taken at a mall show this year with singer Lance Raymundo and fan.
His real name is Geoff Briz, half-British and half-Filipino. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Geoff came into the scene when he was used as the body model for the first Mossimo Bikini Summit. The P4 exposure made this curly-haired hunk quite famous. Often seen in the company of Marc Nelson, he is now being linked to Tisha Silang, a Bb. Pilipinas alum who was dethroned when she won the right to represent the Philippines in the Ms. Universe pageant a few years back. They are always in Boracay Island as Tisha does business there. Last time I saw him a few weeks ago, he was relatively gaut and gangly, so unlike his form a few years back. Photos below were taken last year for a commercial with Marc Nelson and Ms. Earth 2004 [the one from Brazil].
Frank and Jay are my favorites. I saw them in person. Frank reminds me of Smallville’s Tom Welling. Jay reminds me of a former officemate. I think Jay is yummier.
Wasn’t Greg rumored to be gay? The idea of Geoff leaving the group gave me an impression he is in a class of his own.
Greg used to be my landlord. He’s married to a woman and owns a restaurant in NYC.