Amy ready to face the people (again)

She recently went through a rather difficult time in her life, but the good news is that Amy Perez is now back and ready to move forward.

She took a short break from work, and during that time, sought out the company of close friends, including Roderick Paulate, whom she worked with for many years. Although they had not seen each other for a while, much less worked together, they still had a very solid bond. They had traveled separate paths, and ended up in different TV networks, but the friendship — which began years ago when they both starred in the Regal Films-produced movie Petrang Kabayo 2 (where Roderick played the title role) — remained. When they finally met for lunch, Dick and Amy simply picked up from where they’d left off. “Nag-lunch date kami, kuwentuhan, kasi nagkaiba kami ng landas, we went to different networks, kailangan lang siguro ng updating bilang magkaibigan,” is how she remembers it.

Amy knew he was preoccupied with his political career, but she wanted to touch base with him again, hence the call. “Alam ko busy siya, but I was always checking up on him, tapos nag-request ako sa kanya na ‘Mag-lunch tayo.’”

The lunch date proved providential. What neither Amy nor Roderick knew at the time was that plans were being hatched for a project that would bring the two of them back together. That project is the musical game show The Singing Bee, which was formerly hosted by Cesar Montano. After what she’d been through, the offer was a blessing to Amy who, at that point, just wanted to start working again. “Natuwa din ako na magkakasama kami ulit ni Kuya Dick, We’re just very thankful that we were given a chance to come back to television, at thankful din ako kasi sobrang warm ang welcome na binigay sa amin.”

The Singing Bee is very different from the show she used to host. Amy welcomes the comparatively relaxed pace. Although it is a competition, it is less confrontational than her former show. “It’s nice also na once in a while, you take a break from the usual thing that you do,” says Amy. “So after three years (of doing that show), iba rin ang pakiramdam, you graduate from that kind of format, tapos iba naman.”

Amy says she is very happy at being able to work again. It makes her feel good that she now has something to focus her energies on again — and hosting is one thing that over the years, Amy has learned, and learned well. She was one of the original hosts of the variety show ’Sang Linggo nAPO Sila, and since then has hosted shows and segments of varying formats that honed her skills. In fact, these days, Amy is more known for being a host rather than an actress, which she doesn’t mind at all. What is important to her now, says Amy, is that she’s happy doing what she’s doing. “Yun lang naman ‘yon eh, na maligaya ka, you’re happy with what you’re doing.”

Ultimately, what kind of a show it was came up secondary in her decision-making on whether to accept or not. “I’m a mom of three boys, magkaroon ka ng trabaho, yon ang importante, bonus na ang iba. Kahit anong show pa ‘yan, whether it’s a light show, a heavy show, sundalo ako, gagawin ko ang kailangan, kung ano ang hinihiling sa akin.”

She’s excited, because aside from The Singing Bee, there is a promise of other projects in the pipeline. And just recently, Amy Perez joined Umagang Kay Ganda. Like the old saying goes, you can’t put a good woman down.