The good inside Marc Nelson

When the opportunity to interview Marc Nelson — that drop-dead gorgeous hunk, model, television personality, sportsman, adventurer and the country’s most famous bachelor — presented itself, I immediately got the jitters. I’ve had embarrassing experiences when face to face with gorgeous men. I swallow my tongue, I forget my name, I sweat profusely and I get temporarily paralyzed.

So how exactly does one get past the looks, that million-dollar smile and perfect physique which have decorated billboards; the dreamboat who flexes his muscles and brings information and excitement via ABS-CBN’s Sports Unlimited, AXN’s The Duke and QTV’s Dare Duo? 

I came early to the coffee shop where we would meet, to settle down and tame the jitters. As I waited, I reread his essay on volunteerism from the book Be Hands On!, published by Hands On Manila Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides volunteer opportunities for community service in Metro Manila. 

His piece, “My Volunteer Experiences,” tells of his early exposure to volunteerism at age 12. He has since made charity work a big part of his life.  I couldn’t wait to meet him.   

I sat, still lost in the essay, when my cell phone rang. I picked it up and, just as it stopped ringing, who did I see standing there before me? “I thought that was you,” he said. “That was me calling.” He was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt straining against his build. After a few seconds of brain freeze, it sank in. It was Marc Nelson, speaking to me.

I asked about his adventuresome spirit. “My life is one big adventure,” he started off. He spoke of traveling with his family, living in Tanzania, Kenya and the Philippines. “I learned an appreciation of how other people live, their different values, upbringing, and mindsets. It helped me get along with others a lot easier.”

Marc Nelson possesses an inner stillness — no grand arm gestures, no sudden, jerky movements, no fidgeting. I asked him about his childhood. “I’ve been working since I was 13 years old. I’ve worked at a grocery, a barbershop, a bank, as a bartender. I never had a time in my life when I wasn’t working. Even when I was backpacking through Europe I worked. I’m lucky to have visited 43 countries and six of the continents except Antarctica, but home is the Philippines.” 

I asked him for something the public doesn’t already know about him. “I’m actually a very simple guy. I don’t want to rule the world. I just want to be happy. I like helping people and I like making them happy. This is where volunteerism comes in. It is very addictive.” 

Marc is involved with the Kythe Foundation, an organization that helps children diagnosed with cancer; its Every Day is Your Birthday Foundation holds a celebration each year for up to a dozen orphanages; in addition to Hands On Manila, he also contributes to World Vision which sponsors children around the world, providing food, clothing and education.

I had to ask: “Are you in a relationship right now?”

“No,” he replied. “I’m very, very close to my family and friends. I am very blessed to have an amazing mother. I’m a mama’s boy and I’m proud of it. They say I wear my heart on my sleeve because when I’m in a relationship I’m very full-on.”

What makes Marc Nelson happy? “I like simple pleasures. I enjoy cooking. I just don’t have the time to shop and cook anymore.  I love reading.  Reading is my form of escapism and my reading taste is all over the place.”

“Do you have a vice? You must, right? Give me something that makes you human,” I kidded him and he laughed. 

“Let me think.” There was a long pause. “I don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs. I try to eat as healthily as I can — five to six small meals a day. I drive myself and in the 12 years that I’ve lived here I only hired a maid two years ago. I try to go to the gym three times a week but with my schedule, there are stretches wherein I am unable to work out for two weeks and this gets to me, actually… Wait!” he exclaimed. “I have one for you!”  My ears perked up. “I get moody. I get a little moody when I can’t exercise because the body looks for it. I want to take care of myself because how can I take care of others if I don’t take care of myself?” 

And that was the dark side of Marc Nelson.

 I asked him: Does aging bother you? “I’m absolutely terrified of getting old. I am Peter Pan. I think everyone has a little bit of Peter Pan in them. I don’t really want to start aging too much until I find someone to age gracefully with.” I almost died when he said that, but I had to put it off until after the interview. I definitely swooned, though.

I gathered my wits and asked how he got into volunteerism. “It all boils down to exposure. I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to it at an early age,” Marc said. “Young people have a tendency not to appreciate what they have until they see how the other half live. They don’t get to appreciate the environment until they see how badly it is being destroyed. They won’t appreciate animals until they see them in the wild for the first time.”

He talked about Servathon (short for service marathon), an event organized by Hands On Manila that mobilizes non-profit organizations and companies to help build houses for the poor, plant vegetable gardens for orphanages, paint school buildings and such. “This is my second year. I am so inspired by how HOM has managed to organize so many people and so many companies to do so much good work. 

“The great thing about Servathon is it exposes a lot of people to volunteerism for the first time,” he adds. “Then they proceed to doing volunteer work on their own.”

He concluded: “Everything that happened in my life is a product of fate, fortune and meeting the right people. I’m a big believer in karma. If you’re good to others then good things will hopefully happen to you.”

Good inside, gorgeous outside. That’s Marc Nelson.

* * *

Hands On Manila may be reached at 473-7458 or www.handsonmanila.org.

Thank you for your letters. You may reach me at cecilelilles@yahoo.com or visit my blog at www.fourtyfied.blogspot.com.