Jopay Paguia-Zamora, Che-Che Tolentino, Sandy Tolentino, Monic Icban-Diamante, and Mia Pangyarihan of SexBomb Girls. Image: Instagram/@jopaypaguiazamora
The widespread popularity of SexBomb Girls in the late 1990s to 2010s came at a huge cost, including the members sacrificing their personal lives for the sake of their career growth.
Five of the original members of SexBomb — Jopay Paguia-Zamora, Che-Che Tolentino, Sandy Tolentino, Monic Icban-Diamante, and Mia Pangyarihan — revealed in a clip of the news magazine show “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho,” uploaded on its official YouTube channel on Monday, March 6, that they were not allowed to get into relationships during the height of their careers.
“Eto, ngayon lang mare-reveal. Kasi noong active na active ang SexBomb dancers sa TV, may mga bawal pala. Bawal mag-asawa, bawal mag-date,” broadcast journalist Jessica Soho said, before gesturing to Monic. “Ikaw, married ka na pala (But you were already married at that time).”
(This will just be revealed today. When SexBomb dancers were active on TV, they were banned from doing certain things. They were not allowed to date and get married.)
Icban agreed, as she noted that she was already in a relationship with her boyfriend-turned-husband, a talent of the group’s former manager Joy Cancio, when she had to sign her contract as a member.
“Nangyari po kasi n’un, talent ni Ate Joy [Cancio] ‘yung husband ko. Eh, two years na po kaming mag-boyfriend noong sinabi sa contract na bawal magka-relasyon. Tapos may penalty, mga one million or half a million,” she began. “Tapos ang ginawa namin ni McCoy, yung asawa ko po, kasi magsa-sign na kami ng contract, mabilisan — nagpakasal po kami sa Pampanga para kapag pag-sign po ako ng contract, wala na po siyang magagawa.”
(My husband was a talent of Joy Cancio. At that time, we were already in a relationship for two years when our contract required us to be single. Then we had a penalty of approximately P1 million or half a million if we break it. What my husband McCoy and I did was that we immediately got married in Pampanga, so when I can sign my contract, she can’t do anything about it.)
Pangyarihan also recalled a time when Cancio installed a tracking device on the members’ cellphones to monitor their whereabouts.
“Merong time na hindi namin napansin, kinuha ni Joy Cancio ang mga cellphone namin. Hindi po namin alam na [naglagay siya ng] tracker. So, lumabas kami ni Aira [Bermudez] noong araw na ‘yun. Tapos maya’t maya, nag-text si Ate Joy, ‘Nasaan kayo?’ T’as ‘di namin siya nirereplyan kasi nagpapanggap kaming tulog na. Tapos sinabi bigla, ‘Pag di kayo lumabas sa kineme na bar na yan, papasukin ko kayo diyan.’ Ganun siya kahigpit.” she added.
(There was a time when we were unaware that Joy Cancio got hold of our cellphones and installed tracking devices on them. So, when Aira and I went out, we received a text from Joy saying, “Where are you?” We did not reply to her since we wanted to pretend that we were asleep. Then she suddenly texted again, saying, “If you haven’t left the bar you’re at, I will hunt you down.” She was that strict with us.)
While the SexBomb members noted that they were grateful for the career opportunities they received, Paguia shared that being strong-willed is one of the key traits to survive in the group.
“Kung gusto mong maging SexBomb, kailangan matibay ang loob mo. Didiretsuhin ka, ‘Ang tigas ng katawan mo.’ Pag balat sibuyas ka, hindi mo kaya, out ka na,” she stated.
(If you want to be a SexBomb member, you need to have a strong will. There are moments when you would receive the remark like, “You can’t dance gracefully.” If you’re easily hurt, if you can’t handle the pressure, you’re out.)
The SexBomb Girls has been a notable fixture on local pop culture, especially during the height of their popularity. The group, best known for their hit songs “Spaghetti Song,” “Halukay Ube,” and “Bakit Papa,” currently experienced a resurgence following their appearance at an advertisement of a popular streaming platform.
Aside from the aforementioned members, some of the group’s biggest names include Rochelle Pangilinan-Solinap, Aira Bermudez, Izzy Trazona-Aragon, Weng Ibarra, and Evette Pabalan-Onayan, among others. EDV