Maria Erlinda Lucille Termulo-Padilla (born Maria Erlinda Lucille Sazon Termulo; August 10, 1984) professionally known as Mariel Rodriguez-Padilla or simply Mariel Rodriguez (), is a
Filipino-born American commercial model, endorser,
television host, VJ and
actress.
Early life
Mariel Rodriguez was born Maria Erlinda Lucille Sazon Termulo on August 10, 1984. She is known by the nickname "Mariel" as a child, lived and was raised by her maternal grandparents in
Parañaque
Parañaque, officially the City of Parañaque ( fil, Lungsod ng Parañaque, ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 689,992 people.
It is ...
due to her parents' separation at her youth.
She studied at
De La Salle Santiago Zobel School for grade school and high school and attended
De La Salle University
De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), 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 Chris ...
for college, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philippine Studies, major in Filipino in Mass Media.
Rodriguez has one sister and two half-siblings. Her sister, Kaye Garcia, owns the clothing line Hot Pink Lingerie. Her half-siblings, Ethan and Julia Termulo, both live in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
.
Career
Rodriguez started her career at the age of 15 as a commercial model, which included
Clean & Clear. In 2004, she was cast in
MTV Asia's television show ''
Rouge''. Introducing herself through the webcam, she flew to
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 ...
for the audition and got the part. Her role in the show caught the eye of
MTV Philippines executives and was made a
VJ in December 2004. She left MTV in April 2006.
GMA Network signed her as one of their stars. While in the network, she became one of the regular hosts of ''
Extra Challenge
''Extra Challenge'' formerly ''Extra, Extra'' is a Philippine television news magazine and reality competition show broadcast by GMA Network. Originally hosted by Karen Davila and Paolo Bediones, it premiered on February 15, 1999 on the net ...
'',
and appeared on the series ''
Love to Love''.
In 2005, Rodriguez moved to ABS-CBN, where she joined as a co-host of the competition series ''
Pinoy Big Brother'' until 2010. Later, she became well known for co-hosting the noon-time programs ''
Wowowee'' (2006–10), ''
Pilipinas Win Na Win'' (2010), and ''
Happy Yipee Yehey!'' (2011).
Additionally, Rodriguez also acted in the ''
Komiks
Comics in the Philippines ( fil, Komiks}) have been widespread and popular throughout the country from the 1920s to the present. Komiks were partially inspired by American mainstream comic strips and comic books during the early 20th century. ...
'' series ''
Varga'' in 2008, where she starred in the titular main role as
Varga, and two installments of the ''
Precious Hearts Romances Presents
''Precious Hearts Romances Presents'' is a 5-day Philippine program broadcast on ABS-CBN. It mainly focuses on adaptations of the best selling paperbacks distributed by company holder ''Precious Hearts Romances''. Its first run was from May 4, ...
'', namely ''
Bud Brothers'' and ''
Love Is Only in the Movies'', in 2009 and ''
Cinco'' 2010, respectively.
In September 2011, she moved to
TV5, where she continued her co-hosting stint for
Willie Revillame's variety show ''
Wil Time Bigtime'' from 2011 to 2013, which upon its cancellation was followed by ''
Wowowillie'', which she continued to co-host.
In November 2015, she returned to
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 ...
and reprised her role as co-host in ''
Pinoy Big Brother: 737'', which also serves as the reunion of ''Kuya's Angels'' together with
Toni Gonzaga
Celestine Cruz Gonzaga-Soriano (; born January 20, 1984), better known as Toni Gonzaga, is a Filipino singer, host, actress, producer, vlogger and entrepreneur. She is the former lead host of long-running reality show, '' Pinoy Big Brother''. T ...
and
Bianca Gonzalez
Bianca Monica Malasmas Gonzalez-Intal (born March 11, 1983) is a Filipina television host and model.
Hosting career
Gonzalez first hosted ''GameChannel Extreme'' with Iya Villania, Chase Tinio and Aaron Mempin. Her first ever on-cam career i ...
respectively. She also appeared in ''737'' as a celebrity houseguest, alongside
Enchong Dee
Ernest Lorenzo Velasquez Dee (, born November 5, 1988), professionally known as Enchong Dee, is a Filipino actor, model, and swimmer. Dee is a contract artist of ABS-CBN's Star Magic. He came to prominence after starring in his first major TV ...
and
Karla Estrada
Carla Elago Ford (born November 21, 1974), better known as Karla Estrada, is a Filipino actress and singer. Films and television series in which she starred in '' Ina, Kasusuklaman Ba Kita?'' and ''Maricris Sioson: Japayuki''. She starred as ...
.
In 2015, Rodriguez was tapped as the guest host of ''
It's Showtime'' along with
Amy Perez. Weeks later, she confirmed their official participation on the show as main co-hosts.
Personal life
Rodriguez is an
American citizen. She married actor-director
Robin Padilla at the
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
in
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
on August 19, 2010. They had met on the Philippine noon time variety show ''
Wowowee'' when Padilla was temporarily a presenter. Rodriguez, a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, did not convert to
Islam following her marriage with Padilla, who is a Muslim.
In March 2015, Rodriguez revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage, which would have been her first child with Padilla. In August 2015, Padilla announced that he and Rodriguez were expecting triplets. However, a few weeks after the announcement, a statement was released from Padilla's manager that Rodriguez had suffered a second miscarriage.
On May 21, 2016, on an episode of ''
It's Showtime'', Rodriguez announced that she was pregnant for the third time. On August 13, 2016, it was announced that she and Padilla will have a daughter, due in November. Their daughter, Maria Isabella, was born on November 14, 2016, in
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...
. She also gave birth to her 2nd child named Maria Gabriela who was born on November 15, 2019, in
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
.
In September 2022, Rodriguez officially signed a contract with
AMBS to be part of the new Channel 2 TV Station,
ALLTV
All TV (stylized as ALLTV) is a Philippine free-to-air broadcast television network based in Mandaluyong, with its broadcast facilities and studios located at Starmall EDSA-Shaw in EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard; its transmitter is located at the ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Mariel
1984 births
Living people
VJs (media personalities)
American actresses of Filipino descent
American models of Filipino descent
Filipino Roman Catholics
Filipino television actresses
Filipino film actresses
Filipino television variety show hosts
Filipino people of Spanish descent
Mariel
GMA Network personalities
ABS-CBN personalities
Star Magic
TV5 (Philippine TV network) personalities
De La Salle University alumni
21st-century American women