Lesyel Brent Romero Manalo (; born December 6, 1997) is a Filipino actor, model, and content creator. He is known for his roles in the television series ''Ampalaya Chronicles'' (2020), '' Beach Bros'' (2022) and '' The Broken Marriage Vow'' (2022), and for being a housemate (contestant) and co-winner with

Mika Salamanca Anne Michaella "Mika" Salonga Salamanca (; born October 26, 2000) is a Filipino actress, singer, and social media influencer. She first gained public attention as a vlogger, sharing song covers and lifestyle videos on YouTube. Salamanca began h ...

in '' Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition'' (2025).

Early life and education

Lesyel Brent Romero Manalo was born on December 6, 1997, in

Capas Capas, officially the Municipality of Capas (; ), is a Philippine municipality, municipality in the Philippine province, province of Tarlac, Philippines, and one of the richest towns in the province. The town also consists of numerous subdivi ...

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (; ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. It had a population of 1,503,456 people according to ...

. He attended Wellspring High School, where he graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

. He later studied at

De La Salle University De La Salle University (), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private, Catholic coeducational research university run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools with main campus in Taft Avenue, Malate, Man ...

in Manila, earning a Bachelor of Science in Advertising Management, graduating

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

. While at university, he was a consistent Dean's Lister, a nominee for the ''Jose Rizal Honors Society'' and ''Best Thesis'', and a recipient of the ''Ninoy Aquino Leadership Award''.

Career

Early career

In 2015, Manalo launched a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel, ''Brent Manalo'', where he focused on travel vlogs and lifestyle content. Manalo began his career in May 2018, shortly after graduating from college, with a campaign for an international fast fashion brand. A week later, he was invited by

Johnny Manahan Juan "Johnny" Ledesma Manahan (born 11 February 1947), also known as Mr. M, is a Filipino film and television director, actor, talent manager, and screenwriter. He is known for scouting and managing actors, having been the VP and managing dir ...

Star Magic ABS-CBN Center for Communication Arts, Inc., doing business as Star Magic (formerly known as ABS-CBN Talent Center), is a Philippine talent agency owned by ABS-CBN Corporation based in Quezon City, Metro Manila. Founded in 1992, Star Magic ha ...

to audition. He continued modeling while attending workshops, though his career was interrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Acting

Manalo made his acting debut in 2020 with the

iWant iWantTFC (formerly known as iWant TV and iWant) is a Filipino over-the-top media service and production company owned and operated by ABS-CBN Digital Media, a division of ABS-CBN Corporation. It was formed in 2020 through the merger of two str ...

series ''Ampalaya Chronicles'', portraying the character Jeric. He later appeared in '' The Broken Marriage Vow'' (2022) as Migs Ilustre and in ''Beach Bros'' (2022) as Jason Coral. In 2024, he appeared in the ''Hayskul Crush'' series by content creator and fellow housemate

Esnyr Esnyr John Ranollo (born December 15, 2001), known mononymously as Esnyr, is a Filipino social media personality, actor, and comedian. Early life and education Esnyr John Ranollo was born on December 15, 2001 in Davao del Sur. He studied petrol ...

, where he played a role in a love triangle alongside actor Shan Vesagas. The series is available on Esnyr's YouTube and TikTok channels. The following year, Manalo participated as a housemate in '' Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition'', emerging as the season's winners alongside his duo partner,

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards and recognitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manalo, Brent 1997 births Living people Filipino male television actors De La Salle University alumni Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition winners ABS-CBN people Star Magic personalities Male actors from Tarlac Kapampangan people