Rhea Santos-de Guzman (born June 1, 1979) is a Filipino broadcast journalist and television presenter currently based in Canada. She is known for co-anchoring

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

's morning show ''

Unang Hirit () is a Philippine television news broadcasting and talk show broadcast by GMA Network. Originally hosted by Ryan Agoncillo, Lyn Ching-Pascual, Arnold Clavio, Suzi Entrata, Mickey Ferriols, and Miriam Quiambao, it premiered on December 6, ...

'' and hosting several news and public affairs programs including '' Reporter's Notebook'' and '' Tunay na Buhay''. After 19 years of being a broadcast journalist, she left the Philippines to study and eventually resume her profession in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada.

Early life

Santos was born on June 1, 1979 in San Mateo, Rizal and stayed most of her childhood in

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4 ...

. She has an older brother and a younger brother. She finished elementary and high school at St. Scholastica's Academy of Marikina. She graduated magna cum laude at St. Paul's College Quezon City (now known as

St. Paul University Quezon City St. Paul University Quezon City (SPUQC), also referred to as SPU Quezon City, is a private, sectarian and coeducational university located in Mariana, Quezon City, New Manila, Quezon City, Philippines. It was previously an all-girls' school an ...

) finishing AB Mass Communications. One of her project in her first year in college was interviewing

Arnold Clavio Arnold Clavio (; born November 2, 1965), also known as Igan, is a Filipino radio and television newscaster, journalist, and television host. He currently co-anchors GMA Network's morning show ''Unang Hirit'', and DZBB-AM, DZBB's morning radio ...

(her future co-anchor in ''Unang Hirit'') about martial law. She had an internship at

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 ...

in her junior year in college. During her senior year in high school, it became clear to her that she would like to be a broadcast journalist. Although, her childhood dream was to become a beauty queen and her mother fully supported her. With that, she participated in the 1996 Body Shots competition where she became one of the finalists and won the "Best in Swimsuit" special award. Standing at , she was once a commercial and ramp model and an endorser for some products. She also auditioned for Binibining Piipinas but after an argument with her mother in front of the judges, she did not pursue it.

Career

Upon graduating from college, Santos worked for an airline company and a PR firm. Eventually, she decided to follow her aspiration to become a broadcast journalist and began to send job applications to television networks. In July 2000,

replied on her application and started to work there as a segment producer. One day, she had the opportunity to be one of the newscasters and hosts of GMA Network's morning show ''

'', temporarily replacing Miriam Quiambao who was absent for a day. She eventually became a regular of the show in 2001. In 2003, she was assigned to anchor ''Frontpage'''s segment GMA Action Force where she was also a field reporter interviewing different people such as criminal gangs in

Tondo, Manila Tondo is a district located in Manila, Philippines. It is the largest, in terms of area and population, of Manila's sixteen districts, with a census-estimated 654,220 people in 2020. It consists of two congressional districts. It is also the se ...

. In 2004, she had her own show '' At Your Service-Star Power''. In the same year, she co-hosted ''

Eat Bulaga! ''Eat !'' (; stylized as ''Eat... Bulaga!'') is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine television variety show broadcast by Radio Philippines Network, ABS-CBN, GMA Network and TV5 (Philippine TV network), TV5. Originally hosted by Tito S ...

Silver Special'', which was a co-production of TAPE Inc. and GMA News and Public Affairs, with her fellow anchor in ''Unang Hirit'',

. The following year, GMA launched '' Pinoy Abroad'', which she co-hosted with Ivan Mayrina. She had anchored primetime newscast '' News on Q'' (previously aired by QTV, renamed as Q, later

GMA News TV GMA News TV (GNTV; visually rendered in uppercase in its logo) is a 24-hour Philippine-based international pay television channel owned by Citynet Network Marketing and Productions Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of GMA Network Inc. It was ...

and eventually since 2021 became GTV) from 2005 to 2010. She also hosted public affairs program ''Women's Desk'' (later re-titled as ''Draw the Line'') in 2005 and documentary show ''DoQmentaries'' in 2008 along with other presenters

Connie Sison Maria Perpetua Concepcion "Connie" Del Rosario-Escudero (; born December 8, 1975) is a Filipino broadcast journalist, reporter, host, and news anchor. She is an anchor of the GTV (Philippine TV network), GTV newscast ''Balitanghali'' since 2014 ...

and Pia Arcangel. She co-hosted '' Reporter's Notebook'' with Jiggy Manicad in 2009 where she reported from the field and covered high-profile cases such as the Maguindanao massacre. Santos left Reporter's Notebook in 2011 to host '' Tunay na Buhay,'' a television program that features biographies of celebrities, which was first aired on January 21, 2011. In 2013, she guested at '' The Ryzza Mae Show''. In 2016, she hosted the television special entitled ''Imagine You & Me: The Journey'', which is a documentary for the film ''Imagine You & Me'', starring the AlDub love team of

Alden Richards Richard Reyes Faulkerson Jr. (born January 2, 1992), known professionally as Alden Richards, is a Filipino actor, entrepreneur television personality, and singer. Known for his leading man roles in romantic and historical drama in television an ...

and Maine Mendoza. In 2018, she anchored the Lenten special of ''Unang Hirit'' where they broadcast live from Israel. In 2019, she retired as a broadcast journalist after leaving the Philippines together with her family to pursue her further education in Canada taking up Broadcast and Online Journalism at the

British Columbia Institute of Technology The British Columbia Institute of Technology (also referred to as BCIT), is a public polytechnic institute in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The technical institute has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with its main cam ...

. With her 19 years experience in the television news industry in the Philippines, she has covered and broadcast major events during the 2000s and 2010s such as the Philippine national elections of those times, State of the Nation Addresses of Philippine presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Aquino III (; born Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines ...

and

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

, the

9/11 attack The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Hijackers in the September 11 attacks#Hijackers, Nineteen terrorists hijacked four com ...

in New York City, United States, the

wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. William was second in the line of succession to the British throne at the time, later becoming heir apparent. T ...

, and Philippine Chief Justice

Renato Corona Renato Tereso Antonio Coronado Corona (October 15, 1948 – April 29, 2016) was a Filipino judge who was the 23rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2010 to 2012. He served as an associate justice after being appointe ...

impeachment trial An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment. Differences exist between governments as to what stage trials take place ...

. She has been the longest-serving female morning newscaster in the history of Philippine television. On September 1, 2020, she resumed her career in the news industry, premiering as the anchor of the national Philippine edition of Omni News in Vancouver,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada.

Personal life

On September 17, 2004, Santos married businessman and Hotshots Burger chain owner, Carlo de Guzman. They have two children nicknamed Uno and Yuan. Aside from being a media personality, she had a baking business through Curious Chef Philippines. In 2010, she was named by Spot.ph, an entertainment website, as the third hottest television newswomen in the Philippines. The last appearance of Santos in ''Tunay na Buhay'' features her life story.

Filmography

Television

*''

'' – (2000–2019) * ''Frontpage'' – (2003–2004) *''

i-Witness ''i-Witness'', formerly ''i-Witness: The GMA Documentaries'' is a Philippine television documentary show broadcast by GMA Network and GMA News TV. Originally hosted by Vicky Morales, Luchi Cruz-Valdes, Mike Enriquez, Cheche Lazaro and Jessi ...

'': Abakada ni Ina – (2004) *''

:'' Silver Anniversary Special – (2004) *'' At Your Service-Star Power'' – (2004–2005) *'' Pinoy Abroad'' – (2005–2006) *'' News on Q'' – (2005–2010) * ''Draw the Line'' – (formerly known as ''Women's Desk'', 2005–2009) *'' 100% Pinoy!'' – (2006–2007) *''

Quickfire Arson in medieval Scandinavia (Old Norse ''hús-brenna ''or ''hús-bruni, ''"house-burning") was a technique sometimes employed in blood feuds and political conflicts in order to assassinate someone. In committing arson, a group of attackers woul ...

'' – (2008) – guest *'' Case Unclosed'' – (2009) *'' Reporter's Notebook'' – (2009–2011) *'' Tunay na Buhay'' – (2011–2019) *''Follow That Star'' – (2013) – featured celebrity *'' The Ryzza Mae Show'' – (2013) – guest *'' The 700 Club Asia'' – (2016) – guest *''Imagine You & Me: The Journey'' – (2016) *'' OMNI News: Filipino Edition'' – (2020–present) *''OMNI Prairies: Pinoy Konek'' – (2020) – guest

Accolades

, - , 2001 , ''Unang Hirit'' , 15th PMPC Star Awards for Television – Best Morning Show Host , , - , 2002 , ''Unang Hirit'' , 16th PMPC Star Awards for Television – Best Morning Show Host , , - , 2002 , Rhea Santos , 16th PMPC Star Awards for Television – Most Promising Female TV Personality , , - , 2004 , ''

'': ABAKADA ni Ina , 2004 Catholic Mass Media Awards – Best TV Magazine Show , , - , 2005 , ''At Your Service'': Under the Sea Special , 2005 U.S. International Film and Video Festival – Gold Camera Award , , - , 2006 , ''Pinoy Abroad'' , 20th PMPC Star Awards for Television – Best Travel Show Host , , - , 2008 , ''Unang Hirit'' ,

22nd PMPC Star Awards for Television The 22nd PMPC Star Awards for TV ceremony was held at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay on November 30, 2008, and broadcast over TV5 on December 2, 2008. The ceremony was hosted by Paolo Bediones, Gabby Concepcion, Anne Curtis a ...

– Best Morning Show Host , , - , 2013 , ''Unang Hirit'' , 27th PMPC Star Awards for Television – Best Morning Show Host , , - , 2015 , ''Unang Hirit'' ,

29th PMPC Star Awards for Television The 29th PMPC Star Awards for Television (organized by Philippine Movie Press Club headed by current president and over-all awards chairman Joe Barrameda and produced by Airtime Marketing Philippines, Inc. headed by Tessie Celestino-Howard) awar ...

– Best Morning Show Host , , - , 2016 , ''Tunay na Buhay'' ,

30th PMPC Star Awards for Television The 30th PMPC Star Awards for Television awards ceremony (also known as the integral part of the ''2016 Star For M-TV Awards'', with the theme ''The Fusion of Philippine Entertainment's Best'') was held on October 23, 2016 at the Monet Grand Ballr ...

– Best Documentary Program Host , , - , 2017 , ''Unang Hirit'' , Gawad Tanglaw Awards 2017 – Best Morning Show Host ,

References

External links

Rhea Santos' Official WebsiteRhea Santos on GMA News Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Rhea 1979 births Living people Filipino Christians Filipino evangelicals Filipino expatriates in Canada Filipino reporters and correspondents Filipino television news anchors GMA Network (company) people GMA Integrated News and Public Affairs people People from Marikina People from San Mateo, Rizal St. Paul University alumni Kapampangan people Filipino women television journalists