"Like I said, I'm a huge fan," Howie said. "I did watch DVD and she is beautiful and funny and charming."

He also mentioned in the early part of the press conference, "She's wonderful. I think she's funny and she has a great heart and she's energetic and beautiful."

Endemol's executive producer Scott St. John agreed. "I think she's really charming. I don't understand every single word she says, but I get the emotion and I think she's wonderful."

WHY THE PHILIPPINES? Aside from logistic reasons, Howie explained why the Philippines was chosen as one of the three countries to be included in their "around-the-world tour."

"The show [local Deal or No Deal] is so well-produced and the culture is so beautiful and it's very different than ours. That's what we're doing, you know, we wanna see things that are exciting and very different than what we see in the United States, so I think the Americans are gonna love seeing that," he said.

Aside from the dancing 26k Girls of the local Deal or No Deal, Scott also noticed its version of "the banker." Scott said, "We love the way the banker gets to move around. I think that's really fun element. It's something that Howie and I changed in our episode in Canada. That maybe that's something we'll try to incorporate just to give the person more activity.

"It's obvious that, you know, the folks here have put on a great show. We see DVD copies of the show and we really liked it."

THE PREPARATION. Part of the thrill to tape an episode that will air in the U.S. is ABS-CBN's preparation before showcasing the local version of Deal or No Deal. Kris's Deal or No Deal stopped airing last December, so most of the props for the set were already kept in a storage.

Kris revealed to Howie and Scott, "We're not taping right now, so they rebuilt the set for you. That set was already in storage and a lot of other shows got kicked out of the studio to accommodate your coming here. The past two weeks they were building the set and right after you leave, we'll say goodbye to that set again. It's really only for you."

The same goes with the famous 26K Girls. Kris said they were informed immediately after the taping of the special episode was confirmed.

She narrated to the U.S. representatives, "We called the girls six weeks ago to make sure that they hadn't gained weight. We asked them to come over for a go-see and to make sure that they'd fit it to their costume. And then, for the past month, they've been back to the rehearsals."

As an assurance, Kris told Howie and Scott, "The girls came back and they've been rehearsing and all off them look good. None of them got pregnant."

Everything that was used in the local version will be seen in this U.S. game show. Also, the same people who worked for the local version will participate in this episode except for the two contestants who will be coming from the U.S.

The two-hour episode of Deal or No Deal—Around the World is scheduled to air on May 7 in the U.S. Unfortunately, this episode will not be shown locally.

ABS-CBN Business Unit Head Alou Almaden confirmed, "As for the airing here in the Philippines, no. It's not gonna be aired here in the Philippines. But let's see, let's pray."