Former “Pinoy Big Brother” host and housemate Bianca Gonzalez reminisced memories at the PBB House with Robi Domingo before a part of it was demolished.
A side of the PBB House, also called Bahay Ni Kuya, will be demolished after its lease was expired and is no longer renewed.
The colorful structure has been an important landmark in the area since it was built in 2004.
ABS-CBN executive Laurenti Dyogi or Direk Lauren first unveiled the update about the house on his Instagram account on Saturday, May 13.
“We needed to give up this part of the PBB house as our lease has expired this year and it is impractical to renew it,” he said.
Bianca later saw this post. She tagged her co-host and also former PBB housemate Robi to visit the place amid the ongoing demolition.
In a new post on May 15, Bianca shared fond memories she had inside the old PBB House, citing the side that was being torn down.
Bianca also shared a snapshot with Robi taken during their visit.
“When we found out that half of the PBB House would be demolished soon, we HAD to visit. Too many memories on this side of the house: from the hallways that saw our highest highs and our lowest lows (if those walls could talk!!!),” she said.
“…from our small studio inside where we did hundreds of spiels (and blunders), to the balcony tambayan when things got too heated (or it was too cold) inside, to this not-so-secret door where fans of the housemates patiently waited hours. Good times and unforgettable memories,” the host continued.
When we found out that half of the PBB House would be demolished soon, we HAD to visit. Too many memories on this side of the house: from the hallways that saw our highest highs and our lowest lows (if those walls could talk!!!)… pic.twitter.com/twoxs6dZZS
— Bianca Gonzalez (@iamsuperbianca) May 15, 2023
Bianca was a celebrity finalist of “PBB: Celebrity Edition 1” in 2006. She has since been part of the show’s presenters.
In February 2022, the 40-year-old vlogger replaced her former colleague Toni Gonzaga as the main host of the long-running reality series.
Toni stepped down from her role amid the political controversies she figured in during the campaign season at that time.
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Robi, meanwhile, is a runner-up of “PBB: Teen Edition Plus” in 2008. He has also been a presenter of PBB since then.
The old Bahay Ni Kuya
In an Instagram post, Lauren uploaded a video that showed several parts of the house being destroyed and leveled.
View this post on Instagram
In the post, Lauren recalled that the PBB House was built at the start of the Pinoy Dream Academy (PDA), a talent search program under ABS-CBN, way back in 2006.
“After two seasons of PDA, it became our House B which had our offices, brainstorm space, pantry, hosts’ dressing rooms, mini studio with control room and living quarters especially during the last two “lock-in seasons”. This part of the house has lots of good memories and even scary experiences,” he said.
Lauren said that years later, they now have the main PBB House and control room.
This, thus, makes renewing the license of the old site “impractical.”
“We still have the main PBB house and control room which hopefully we still get to use for the next PBB edition. This original house was built in 2004 and is 18 years old. It has become iconic and a landmark in the area,” he said.
The company executive ended his post by expressing his gratitude to all the people, including ex-housemates, who have made “PBB” an iconic part of Pinoy pop culture.
“It’s an end of an era but hopefully, we move on and find a better home in the future!” Lauren said.
ABS-CBN launched “PBB,” the Philippine adaptation of the same franchise in Europe, in August 2005. Its first season finale logged one of the network’s highest viewership at 3.9 million.
