Bryan Boy out to make his presence felt in the local scene
Two decades before today’s social media celebrities made a name for themselves, Bryan Grey Yambao or more popularly known as Bryan Boy, popularly lorded it over the Internet where he got recognized as a celebrity fashion and style blogger.
“I’m already acting on the Internet and I think, for me, we are in the business where we love to inspire people,” asserted Bryan. “We love to make people happy. We love to make people angry, sometimes, but it’s already entertainment.”
Known as a fashion icon who graced Paris Fashion Week and shows in Milan, Bryan was in Manila briefly first week of April, when he signed up a management contract with Viva Artists Agency (VAA). It was a breath of fresh air that Bryan was at the Viva office, where he was welcomed by one of the company’s top executives, Veronique del Rosario-Corpus.
“It’s very, very surreal being here,” admitted Bryan. “I’m having goosebumps now. Viva is such a legacy institution and one of the pillars of Philippine entertainment. They have all the biggest celebrities.”
“To be part of it is such an honor and maybe long overdue, but it never occurred to me until now. To be here, I’m just so grateful and I’m very, very excited,” he added.
Bryan is excited if he can do even a cameo for a film with Viva or even Vivamax. “Anything,” he smilingly said. “It’s more exciting to explore what I can do with my personality. That will be a challenge to myself.”
“I love Viva to expand my presence in entertainment. It’s hard to define a scope or expectation. But for me, I love the idea of partnering with them to just expand and explore what we can do together. I want them to challenge me creatively. I love to do something creative with Viva,” he continued.
It was actress Anne Curtis who actually connected Bryan with Viva. “Anne and I were together in Paris last year when she asked me if there was someone taking care of my career in the Philippines,” disclosed Bryan.
“When I told her, ‘Not really,’ she lost no time to connect me with Viva. We did a meeting through Zoom while I was at home in Sweden and magic happened. Viva will represent me in my career here in the Philippines.”
It was in “nineteen kopong kopong” or back in 2004, when Bryan started with a blog while he was still living in Manila.
“That was my original platform,” he said.
“Over the years, I went from blog to Instagram to TikTok and Facebook, kahit na late. Hopefully, this time, with Viva, I will even do movies,” he laughingly added.
Bryan did “America’s Next Top Model” in 2012 and 2013. “At that time, my agency was already pushing me to do TV and entertainment, but I was not ready yet,” Bryan shared. “It was a humbling experience to work with an American production, with Tyra (Banks) and everybody there.”
“But I wasn’t ready then. I wanted to build my career in fashion, which is my first love. Twelve years later, I feel that I am now ready to take more challenges and more exciting (opportunities) to expand into different platforms.”
Bryan, now 42 years old, first uprooted from Manila in 2009 and moved to New York. Then he went to Sweden in 2017. He has a Swedish husband who opts to stay out of the limelight. Not a single photo of the guy has been seen on the Internet. They’ve been together for 14 years.
They were contemplating on having a child, but his “husband” made him decide. “He told me, ‘Bryan, it’s up to you. When you’re ready.’ I’m the one with a crazy lifestyle. He works nine to five. He’s the one taking care of the dog. It’s my schedule. When will I ever be ready? But I want a baby girl.”
Bryan cannot be any happier that there are more Filipinos who are now seen in the fashion scene in Paris. “There were Heart (Evangelista), Pia (Wurtzbach) and last year, it was Anne (Curtis),” Bryan mentioned. “That’s basically representation for the Philippines. It’s a good thing to have more celebrities and personalities from the Philippines.”
“I want Filipinos to think that anybody with a dream can go to Paris Fashion Week. Anyone can be there. A lot of people think it’s really hard. Of course, it’s hard because it’s really the brands who will invite you,” he said.
Bryan added, “You don’t have to be an influencer or celebrity to be a guest to be there. There are so many things you can do to be able to attend the Fashion Week. Being an artista, socialite or an influencer is not the only ticket to go there.
“You can represent yourself as from the press, you can be a buyer. It’s not just rampahan lang. Fashion week is a business. It’s all about supporting the designers who need to sell clothes. It’s a lot of work for them.”
“I have a huge Filipino audience, especially when TikTok happened. My Filipino audience is my connection to home. Why not develop it and grow it? They make me happy.
“Whenever I go to the airport in Manila, people come up to me and I got amazed that they watched my content. That gives me personal pleasure to connect with Filipino audience. It really feels special to be recognized by your own people through and through.
“It’s just special to feel the love of your audience. Even if I have blonde hair and nail polish, I’m still Filipino to the core. For me, that feels great. Now that I live overseas, having a Filipino audience makes me miss home.”
There’s no such thing as normal for Bryan. “Every day is different,” he stressed. “There was a time I felt I needed to take a break. That was to stay at home in Sweden.”
Since he has shown a lot of his life to the public, Bryan is aware that he needs to make a separation. “Personal life is always different from professional life,” he maintained. “Sometimes, you combine the two, but they are always different.”
So, how does Bryan want to be remembered? “Maganda,” he smiled. “I want people to remember me as someone inspiring, entertaining, mabait. People get surprised when they see me. They say I’m down to earth. Hindi ba ako down to earth? Hahaha!”
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