Jennylyn Mercado may cohost Willie’s show

WILLIE Revillame

“He was simply waiting for the right time,” Randy Santiago said of good friend Willie Revillame’s return to the biz. The singer-actor will direct the controversial TV host’s new Sunday game show, “WowoWin,” which airs on GMA 7 starting April 26.

Randy said he and Willie kept in touch this past year, brainstorming for their latest project. “It will be similar to Willie’s previous variety programs, but we will introduce new twists,” he told the Inquirer by phone.

Both started in GMA 7 in 1987 via the defunct noontime show “Lunch Date.” Willie was one of Randy’s so-called “hawi” boys (bodyguards). With John Estrada, they later cohosted “Magandang Tanghali Bayan” on ABS-CBN.

Asked what he thought about “WowoWin” being in the same turf as “Eat Bulaga”—which Willie’s original program “Wowowee” attempted to topple a couple of years ago, Randy said: “There was some teasing, but never any badmouthing among the two show’s hosts. We all meet outside work; everything’s fine.”

Willie recently inked an airtime deal for the showing of “WowoWin” on the Kapuso network. Present during the signing were the station’s top bosses, led by GMA 7 chair and chief executive officer, Atty. Felipe Gozon. “We are pleased to have him in the network,” he said in a statement. “Willie has a very large following.”

Homecoming

Other GMA 7 bosses were likewise receptive of Willie’s homecoming.

“If he comes up with a great show, it will help the network… And we welcome that,” vice president for drama productions Redgie Acuña-Magno told the Inquirer before GMA 7 made the official announcement of Willie’s transfer.

Magno noted that Willie was very “hands-on and passionate” about work. “I used to work for Helen Vela, so I became friends with him and [ex-wife] Princess Punzalan,” she related.

Lilybeth Rasonable, senior vice president for entertainment television, described him as a “good and entertaining host” and based on several meetings, “friendly and accommodating.”

Rasonable and Magno clarified that Willie will not be directly under their supervision, as the new show will not be network-produced. Willie isn’t a contract talent either, but a block-timer—which means he is purchasing airtime, allegedly worth P2 million per week.

Elaine Timbol, business unit head of Willie’s own production firm WBR Entertainment, declined to confirm the amount, saying she wasn’t privy to the negotiations. “That figure sounds quite big though,” she said.

Though she couldn’t reveal much about the program—slated for the 3:30 p.m. Sunday slot—Timbol assured that “WowoWin” will have the same core as the various incarnations of “Wowowee,” like “Wil Time Big Time” and “Wowowillie,” which both aired on TV5.

Planning stage

“The aim is still to make people happy,” she said, adding that the show is still in the “planning stage.”

According to the grapevine, Jennylyn Mercado is being eyed as a cohost. Timbol was tight-lipped on this, too, saying, “We’re just working hard on our pilot episode.”