Richard Juan ( zh, t=范鴻志, poj=Hoān Hông-chì, j=Faan⁶ Hung⁴zi³, p=; : ; born August 2, 1992), also known as Richard Hwan, is a Filipino television host, actor and film producer. He first gained popularity through the ''

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 ...

'' segment "You're My Foreignoy" and won the Dabarkad's Choice Award. He was also a housemate on the reality show '' Pinoy Big Brother: 737''. He is the founder and managing director of Two Infinity Entertainment and also the co-founder of 28 Squared Studios.

Early life and education

Richard Juan was born on August 2, 1992, 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 ...

. At the age of one month, his family relocated to Hong Kong. Juan attended Singapore International School and Canadian International School, and then completed high school at Island School. Juan then returned to the Philippines to continue his studies and graduated with a degree in broadcast communication at the

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

. Though a permanent

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 ...

resident, Juan still holds Filipino citizenship, and thus a

Chinese Filipino Chinese Filipinos (sometimes referred as Filipino Chinese or Chinoy/Tsinoy in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent with ancestry mainly from Fujian, but are typically born and raised in the Philippines. Chinese Filipinos are one ...

. Juan is multilingual; in addition to his native

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

, he is fluent in Filipino, English,

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, and

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

Career

Juan first appeared on national television on the '' Eat Bulaga'' segment "You're My Foreignoy," where foreigners living in the Philippines showcased their understanding of Filipino culture. In 2015, he joined

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 reality show '' Pinoy Big Brother: 737'' as a regular housemate. He remained in the competition until week 17 (day 119), eventually placing in the final six. Juan's also became a host of the ABS-CBN Sports + Action's

University Athletic Association of the Philippines The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univ ...

coverage show, ''UPFRONT at the UAAP'' in 2016 alongside Justin Quirino and Marco Gumabao. Juan made his acting debut on TV5's television film ''Wattpad Presents: AFGITMOLFM''. He also made a guest appearance in an episode of GMA Network's drama anthology series '' Tadhana''. Juan hosted the backstage show for Miss Universe 2016 which was hosted in the Philippines. Juan was selected as one of three regional artists to feature in the show "Create My Seoul" produced by TVN Asia. In 2019, Juan became a recurring cast member of the

afternoon soap opera, '' Love Thy Woman''. Juan returned to ''Pinoy Big Brother'' as a host in 2020, hosting both '' Pinoy Big Brother: Connect'' and '' Pinoy Big Brother: Kumunity Season 10''. Juan was cast in the romantic comedy film '' Connected'', alongside ''Pinoy Big Brother: Connect'' contestants Kobie Brown, Andi Abaya, Ralph Malibunas, Gail Banawis, Chico Alicaya, and Amanda Zamora.

Public speaking

Juan is also an active as a public speaker throughout his career. One of his most notable speeches include a TEDx Talk focused on personal identity and nationalism. Additionally, he gave the opening speech at the 2019

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Writing Competition, discussing digital transformation and the impact of social media to the world.

Film production

In 2021, Juan established the digital entertainment company 28 Squared Studios. 28 Squared Studios partnered with

CJ ENM CJ ENM Co., Ltd (, CJ Entertainment aNd Merchandising) is a South Korean entertainment and retail company founded in 1994. CJ ENM was established as a result of the merger of two CJ Group subsidiaries, CJ ENM Entertainment Division, CJ E&M and ...

, 360 Entertainment, and Bhouse Studio to facilitate the Philippine auditions for "Boys Planet 999", a talent search project aimed at creating "the next biggest boy band". In December 2022, Juan co-produced the film "The Safe Zone"'','' which claims to be the world's first short film written and directed by

ChatGPT ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released on November 30, 2022. It uses large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4o as well as other Multimodal learning, multimodal models to create human-like re ...

. Juan is the executive producer for Warner Bros. Pictures's first Filipino romance film '' Under Parallel Skies'', directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo and starring Janella Salvador and Thai actor Metawin Opas-iamkajorn.

Philanthropy

In response to the Taal Volcano eruption in 2020, Juan sourced N95 masks from Hong Kong, to donate to evacuees in Batangas, Philippines. This initiative was part of Juan’s commitment to leveraging his international connections for local relief efforts. Later that year, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, Juan again sourced protective gear from Hong Kong and donated it to various hospitals in Metro Manila. In August 2020, Juan was named the Goodwill Ambassador for SOS Children’s Village Philippines.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Film

Television

Music video appearances

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juan, Richard Filipino people of Chinese descent Filipino television variety show hosts ABS-CBN people GMA Network (company) people Star Magic Hong Kong expatriates in the Philippines People educated at Island School Living people Pinoy Big Brother contestants University of the Philippines Diliman alumni 1992 births