The Philippines’ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has become a ground for GMA-7 to discover new and fresh talents.
One such athlete-actor is Prince Carlos, who now appears in the sitcom Daddy’s Gurl.
But apart from having athletes in its stable of artists, the network has also established a pool of courtside reporters whose good looks have paved their way to TV hosting outside of covering sports.
One of them is Lance Santiago, a commercial model who has been picked as one of NCAA’s 13 courtside reporters for this season.
PEP.ph had a short chat with Lance during the sidelights of NCAA-GMA’s All-Star Basketball Game in June 2022.
Lance said his stint with NCAA was by far his biggest break, having hosted a lot of events during his time as an AB Literature student at the University of Sto. Tomas.
He recalled, “When I was in college po nag-start yung hosting experience ko. Nag-host po ako ng Paskuhan and then different events, USTV Awards.
“Eventually, naging hosting department head po ako.”
In fact, during college, Lance also tried becoming a courtside reporter for NCAA, “...nag-audition ako sa NCAA and then hindi ako nakuha.
“This time, season 97, fortunately, nandito na. Sobrang saya po.
"It was overwhelming kasi noong college ako, sa university screens lang ako nakikita.
“Ngayon, may Eat Bulaga!, may Boobay and Tekla Show, mga shows ng GMA.”
But on top of all that, Lance is also a Palanca Awardee.
“When I was in second-year college, I won the Palanca award po. Second Prize, Kabataan Essay po. And then, after college po, commercials.”
DREAM LEADING LADIES
Currently, Lance remains one of the courtside reporters of NCAA Women’s Volleyball, which is now on its Best-of-Three Finals.
The first game, which will happen on Wednesday, July 20, will be a battle between College of St. Benilde’s Lady Blazers and Arellano University’s Lady Chiefs.
After NCAA, Lance plans to continue pursue a TV career.
He told PEP.ph, “If given the chance, more than ready kasi ito po yung gusto kong gawin.
“Naalala ko sa pre-school yearbook ko, ‘What do you want to be? To be an actor.’
“So babalik ka pa rin pala doon sa first love mo. Actually, kahit hindi nga actor basta makita mo yung sarili mo sa TV, more than enough.”
When asked about his dream leading lady, Lance quickly answered, “Siyempre, number one, Sophia Senoron! Doon na tayo sa kasama natin sa NCAA.”
Aside from being a courtside reporter, Sophia is also a talent of GMA’s Sparkle and is about to be seen in Voltes V: Legacy.
Lance also dreams of working with Kapuso actresses Marian Rivera and Glaiza de Castro.