Marc Saw Nelson, better known as Marc Nelson, is a Burmese and Australian television host and model mostly credited for being one of Philippine television's most visible and prominent personalities.

Personal life

Nelson was born in Sydney, Australia. His mother has

Anglo-Burmese The Anglo-Burmese people, also known as the Anglo-Burmans, are a community of Eurasians of Burmese and European descent, who emerged as a distinct community through mixed relationships (sometimes permanent, sometimes temporary) between the Brit ...

blood, born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

and raised in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, while his father is of

Burmese Chinese Chinese Burmese, also Sino-Burmese or Tayoke, are a Burmese citizens of full or partial Chinese ancestry. They are group of overseas Chinese born or raised in Myanmar (Burma). As of 2012, the Burmese Chinese population is estimated to be as h ...

origin but migrated to Australia. He graduated with a Science Degree in

human geography Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography that studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment. It analyzes spatial interdependencies between social i ...

, a course similar to

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

. Since the age of 7, Nelson and his family have been traveling and living in all of the flung corners of the globe. He has managed to visit over 40 countries and lived in seven of them. After living in such diverse countries as

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

as well as his native Australia, Nelson found his true calling in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Nelson was formerly linked to actress Patricia Javier. He was also linked to

Miss Earth 2004 Miss Earth 2004, the 4th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, was held on October 24, 2004 at the University of the Philippines Theater in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. Dania Prince of Honduras crowned her successor Priscilla Meirelles o ...

Priscilla Meirelles Priscilla Meirelles de Almeida-Estrada (born 5 September 1983) is a Brazilian model, host, actress, environmentalist and beauty queen. She won the Miss Earth 2004 pageant held in the Philippines. She also won the Miss Globe 2003 pageant. Meirel ...

, where he was the host/presenter of Miss Earth 2004, Priscilla's winning pageant; to model Paula Taylor, whom he met during the ''Amazing Race Asia'' stint; and to model Samantha Lewis.

Career

Nelson started modelling in the late 1990s. He was part of commercial on SunSilk Nutrient Shampoo for Slow Growing Hair as a photographer, He took on the ramp, graced billboards and print ads, and appeared on TV commercials. He eventually made a name for himself as a TV host, taking on shows such as the then-ABC5 (now TV5) dance program Eezy Dancing and

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company under L ...

's ''

Sports Unlimited ''Sports Unlimited'' (now '' Sports U'') is a Philippine sports docu-news magazine program broadcast by ABS-CBN, hosted by Dyan Castillejo. The program features different kinds of sports, as well as ordinary and prominent sports figures. It is t ...

''. Due to his recognition and skill as a host he is much in demand when it comes to hosting events and pageants. He has hosted the Elite Model Search,

Manhunt International Manhunt International is an International Male Model Search for the next MALE SUPERMODEL, which began in 1993, though the roots of the pageant go back a few years more to when one single national preliminary was held in Singapore. The pageant w ...

, Miss Teen Philippines,

Mutya ng Pilipinas Mutya ng Pilipinas (MNP), in 2019 known as Mutya Pilipinas, is one of the two oldest annual national beauty pageants in the Philippines (est. 1968). The other being the Binibining Pilipinas Pageant (est. 1964). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ...

as well as the

Miss Earth Miss Earth is an annual international major beauty pageant based in the Philippines that advocates for environmental awareness, conservation and social responsibility. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, it is one ...

beauty pageant on more than one occasion. Other pageants, awards nights and events are constantly being added to his roster.

''The Amazing Race Asia 2''

Nelson and his "best buddy", Rovilson Fernandez are most noted for competing in the second season of the

AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...

reality show, ''

The Amazing Race Asia ''The Amazing Race Asia'' is an Asian adventure reality game show based on the international ''Amazing Race'' franchise. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show follows teams of two as they race across Asia and around th ...

''. They hold the record for the most consecutive leg placing, finishing 1st from leg 2 to leg 8 and again in leg 11. They finished in 3rd place in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, after Fernandez faltered at the final task, a

Roadblock A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be: * Roadworks *Temporary road closure during special events * Police chase *Robbery * Sobriety checkpoint In peaceful circumstanc ...

, despite being the first to commence the task. It involves arranging of flags of the countries they had visited.

Post-''Amazing Race Asia 2''

After competing in ''The Amazing Race Asia 2'', Nelson and Fernandez hosted the magazine talk show, '' The Duke'', on AXN in 2009. In March 2015, the duo partnered again as hosts for ''

Asia's Got Talent ''Asia's Got Talent'' is a televised Asian talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Produced and aired by AXN Asia, it was created in the wake of the successes of both ''America's Got Tale ...

'', also on AXN.

Filmography

Television

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Marc Living people People from Sydney Australian people of Anglo-Burmese descent Australian people of Burmese descent Australian people of Chinese descent Australian people of Scottish descent Filipino male models Australian VJs (media personalities) Australian expatriates in the Philippines Burmese people of Chinese descent Year of birth missing (living people) The Amazing Race contestants