Francine Diaz is a member of the popular "Gold Squad" composed of other young stars— Andrea Brillantes, Seth Fedelin, and her love team partner Kyle Echarri.
She rose to prominence after her first leading role as Cassie Mondragon in Kadenang Ginto (2018).
Since then, her army of fans has grown immensely. Her followers number 4.4 million on Facebook, 4.8 million on Instagram, and 5.6 million on Tiktok.
She started vlogging just a year ago, and already she has garnered 1.07 million subscribers on YouTube as of this writing.
Starting in August 2020, her top videos have been steadily gaining millions in views
Let's get to know more about Francine's life on and off-cam.
BACKGROUND
Francine, whose full name is Francine Carrel Saenz Diaz (Chin for short), was born on January 27, 2004.
She comes from a big family, the third child in a brood of six.
Her siblings are Chantal, Cameron, Carmela, Courtney, and Elsa. Their parents are JM Diaz and Merdick Saenz.
Francine's dad is an OFW, but his income was not enough for the need of all the children.
In fact, their family had constantly moved from one house to another because they could not consistently pay the rental.
Initially from Manila, they finally settled in Cavite.
Francine became her family's breadwinner at a young age as soon as she started in showbiz.
CAREER
Spotted by a talent scount, Francine was 12 years old when she was cast in a bit role as the young character of Ellen Adarna in ABS-CBN's remake of Pasion de Amor in 2015.
From there, she had several minor or supporting roles, mostly portraying the young characters of the female leads, such as the young Kim Chiu in Ikaw Lang Ang Iibigin (2017).
The breakthrough in her career happened when she was cast as Cassie Mondragon in ABS-CBN's hugely successful afternoon drama series Kadenang Ginto, which ran from October 2018 to February 2020.
The drama brought her—alongside teen co-star and love-team partner Kyle Echarri—recognition and fame.
The two, known as KyCine, eventually became one of the most sought-after love teams in the industry.
Francine, as a solo artist, was also cited as the Breakout Star of 2018 for PEP's yearender.
Joining Francine and Kyle in the lead cast of Kadenang Ginto were Andrea Brillantes and Seth Fedelin, after which all four became known as the Gold Squad.
Francine got her first lead role in a movie in the 2019 film Silly Red Shoes, again together with Kyle.
It was followed by a role in 2020's iWantTFC's series Bawal Lumabas along with Kim Chiu.
In 2021, she again played a lead role in the Kapamilya TV series Huwag Kang Mangamba, together with the other Gold Squad members.
She also starred in another crime-thriller film titled Tenement 66.
In the same year, Francine was in the main cast of the digital anthology Click, Like, Share.
And just just before year 2021 ended, it was announced that Francine would play another lead role in an iWantTFV series in 2022 titled Bola Bola.
It would be her first solo project sans the Gold Squad group.
Love team with Kyle Echarri
Francine and Kyle's love team "KyCine" rose to fame because of their undeniable chemistry in Kadenang Ginto.
They are not romantically involved in any way, but the 17-year-old actress dubbed her 18-year-old screen partner as "best friend and partner before, during and present" in her March 2021 interview.
One proof of their sweetness was when Kyle went all the way to Cavite where Francine lives in order to ask her to be his date to the ABS-CBN Ball in 2019.
But during the lockdown, Francine said the both focused on spending time with respective families.
She told PhilStar.com, "Kami kasi ni Kyle during lockdown, nag-uusap at kamustahan pero may sinet na goal to spend more time with family and mga kapatid.
"Pero hindi naman po nawawala yung kumustahan and I think yun 'yung mas mahalaga.
"For us, hindi naman nasusukat yung hindi pag-uusap sa friendship. Kapag may problema, nagdadamayan naman kami."
But come 2022, Francine will be top-billing iWantTFC original series Bola Bola sans Kyle.
Is she finally going to embark on a solo career?
Fans believe that the time is right, and that Francine is already ripe for projects