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; they emerged as a distinct community through mixed relationships (sometimes permanent, sometimes temporary) between the B ...

blood, born in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and raised in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, while his father is of

Burmese Chinese Chinese Burmese, also Sino-Burmese or Tayoke (), are Burmese citizens of Han Chinese ethnicity. They are a group of overseas Chinese born or raised in Myanmar (Burma). Burmese Chinese are a well established ethnic group and are well represen ...

origin but migrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He graduated from Macquarie University, Sydney Australia with a Science Degree in

human geography Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography which studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment, examples of which include urban sprawl and urban ...

, 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, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

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

Miss Earth 2004 Miss Earth 2004 was the fourth edition of the Miss Earth pageant, held at the University of the Philippines Theater in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on October 24, 2004. Dania Prince of Honduras crowned Priscilla Meirelles of Brazil ...

Priscilla Meirelles Priscilla Meirelles de Almeida-Estrada (born 5 September 1983) is a Brazilian model, television host, actress, environmentalist and beauty queen. She won the Miss Earth 2004 pageant held in the Philippines, becoming the 4th Miss Earth. She a ...

, where he was the host/presenter of Miss Earth 2004, Priscilla's winning pageant; to model

Paula Taylor Punlapa Margaret Taylor (born January 20, 1983), also known as Paula Taylor () or Thai name Punlapa Supa-aksorn (; ), is a Thai actress, model, and presenter of British descent. Personal life Taylor was born in Chulalongkorn hospital, Bangkok ...

, 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 Sunsilk is a British hair care brand produced by the company Unilever. The brand was introduced in 1954 in the UK and available in most countries globally. History Sunsilk was launched in the United Kingdom in 1954. and in the same year it ...

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 is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

's '' Sports Unlimited''. 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 a prominent international male model search for the next ''Male Supermodel,'' founded in 1993. However, the competition's roots trace back a few years earlier, when a single national preliminary was held in Singapore. ...

, 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 brand 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, with some ne ...

reality show, ''

The Amazing Race Asia ''The Amazing Race Asia'' is an Asian reality competition show based on the American series ''The Amazing Race''. Following the premise of other versions in the ''Amazing Race'' franchise, the show follows teams of two as they race across Asia a ...

''. 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 an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, 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 * Protests In peaceful ...

, 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 Television personalities 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 video jockeys Australian expatriates in the Philippines Burmese people of Chinese descent Year of birth missing (living people)