There is an unflattering story that landed Kim Chiu’s name in the headlines eight months ago. After making what many consider an incoherent comment on the ABS-CBN franchise renewal issue, Chiu instantly became the butt of jokes online, with countless memes and hashtag trends alluding to her ‘bawal lumabas’ statement, dropping like bombs across all social media platforms.
A month later, after receiving depressive slurs and bashings, Chiu miraculously turned her great misfortune into a gold mine, with a number of projects sprouting in the wake of her sensational online flub—she became ‘ang babaeng walang pahinga’.
And there are overwhelming merits to it.
She practically doesn’t take a break. She became the ‘face’ of ABS-CBN, after the gaffe, as new projects and engagements came knocking on her door, one by one. After completing ‘Love Thy Woman’ in September, Chiu embarked on a streak of big projects that would allow her to be visible on national television and other important platforms.
Humble Beginnings
It is important to underscore Kim Chiu’s journey to becoming one of ABS-CBN’s biggest, and most prized stars. She didn’t have a popular family name to back her entry to showbiz and enable her to remain in the local entertainment scene, long enough for her to create a lasting great impression—she had her talent and perseverance, instead.
When Chiu entered the Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) house in 2005, most people were unsurprisingly unaccommodating to the notion that a timid Chinita girl from Cebu, would eventually break into show business, and become a very important star. But Chiu, whose overwhelming charisma may have been more than enough for her to have a great shot at showbiz, proved to be more than just a pretty face. After winning her season, Chiu came out of the PBB house with a long-line of projects waiting for her, and as people say—the rest is history.
Memorable TV Projects and Recording Career
Chiu maintains a string of successful tv dramas after headlining Sana Maulit Muli, her very first starring role, alongside then on-screen partner and fellow PBB housemate, Gerald Anderson. Her professional partnership with Anderson continued with My Girl (2008), Tayong Dalawa (2009), and Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo (2010). In 2011, she led the ensemble cast of My Binondo Girl, in which she got paired up with her current on-screen and real-life partner, Xian Lim, for the first time. The following year, she again worked with Lim in the massively-successful, Ina, Kapatid, Anak. In 2014, she joined primetime king, Coco Martin, in leading the ensemble primetime drama, Ikaw Lamang. 2016 saw her reunion with Xian Lim in The Story of Us. Chiu’s most recent tv drama, is the recently concluded Love Thy Woman, which came more than two years after Ikaw Lang Ang Iibigin, which reunited her with her first on-screen partner, Anderson, in late 2017.
Since 2007, Chiu has also already appeared in 8 Maalala Mo Kaya episodes, and a number of Your Song, Love Spell Presents, Wanapanataym, and Ipaglaban Mo episodes. She has also been with the musical variety show, ASAP Natin To, since 2006, making her one of the longest-staying regular presenters and performers of the show.
As a recording artist, Chiu has released a dozen or two singles in her one and a half decades in show business, the most successful being Crazy Love (2007), Mr. Right (2015), Okay Na Ako (2017), and her latest, which took inspiration from her viral comment, The Bawal Lumabas Song (2020).
Chiu as A Modern Movie Queen
Chiu has been dubbed as this generation’s horror movie queen, having starred in a number of horror films, since the onset of her career, but her impressive filmography isn’t confined to horror movies, alone. Her most commercially-successful film remains Bride For Rent, in which she starred with Lim in 2014. The film grossed more than 300 million, making it one of the highest-grossing non-MMFF films, of all time. Since the beginning of her career, Chu has starred in at least 15 mainstream films, the most successful of which being I Love You Goodbye (2009), Paano Na Kaya (2010), The Healing (2012), Bakit Hindi Ka Crush ng Crush Mo (2013), Bride For Rent (2014), Etiquette for Mistresses (2015), and The Ghost Bride (2017). Her most recent film is the digital horror movies, U-Turn, which was completely released to digital platforms in November 2020.
The Bawal Lumabas Gaffe
Chiu has never left the limelight since Pinoy Big Brother, but her name has never been as talked about as when and after she made her comment on the ABS-CBN franchise renewal issue. The remark came in the wake of the National Telecommunications Commission’s cease-and-desist order, which stripped ABS-CBN’s rights to further broadcast on free television amidst its legislative franchise application.
“Sa classroom may batas. Bawal lumabas. O bawal lumabas. Pero ‘pag sinabi, ‘pag nagcomply ka na bawal lumabas, pero may ginawa ka sa pinagbabawal nila, inayos mo yung law ng classroom niyo at sinubmit mo ulit, ay pwede na pala ikaw lumabas.”
Excerpt from Chiu’s viral statement
Such a statement sent Chiu to the top of trending charts on YouTube and Twitter, within hours, with trolls mostly fueling the hate campaign aimed at her, online. In a Paano Kita Mapasasalamatan episode, the actress revealed she went through depressive episodes after being bashed for her comment.
As ‘Ang Babaeng Walang Pahinga’
Kim Chiu has been incredibly managing to juggle concurrent showbiz commitments, since the conclusion of ‘Love Thy Woman’. She first joined the noontime show, It’s Showtime, as one of its main hosts, allowing her to be on television from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, she presents and performs on the musical-variety program, ASAP Natin ‘To. Alongside these engagements, she was able to record a single inspired by her viral online mess, complete a fresh Maalala Mo Kaya episode, and finish a digital series, eponymously titled ‘Bawal Lumabas’ the series. Along with It’s Showtime, she also serves as one of the special hosts to the current season of Pinoy Big Brother.
A Star Magic and Kapamilya Queen
As big stars take their exit from the Kapamilya Network, Kim Chiu now stands as among the network’s biggest stars, but her merits as ABS-CBN’s most important homegrown stars, aren’t from the absence of Bea Alonzo, Piolo Pascual, and other stars in their league, who decided to part ways with ABS-CBN—she earned and deserved this place, and what better way to reward her loyalty than to anoint her as a Kapamilya Queen? Chiu’s journey to reaching her destiny has undoubtedly taken a long way from her humble beginnings in PBB, and as the network, she chose to remain loyal to, recuperates from its tragedies in 2020, the Chinita Princess looks poised to soar even higher.
