Charlene Mae Gonzales Bonnin-Muhlach (; born May 1, 1974) is a Filipina actress, media personality, and beauty queen. Gonzales won the Binibining Pilipinas Universe 1994 title and represented her country at the

Miss Universe 1994 Miss Universe 1994, the 43rd Miss Universe pageant, was held on 21 May 1994 at the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay, Philippines. 77 contestants competed during this year. Outgoing titleholder Dayanara T ...

pageant held in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, where she won the Best National Costume award and was one of the Top 6 Finalists. She is also an award-winning

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

host and a commercial

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

Early and personal life

Gonzales was born to actor Bernard Bonnin and model Elvira Gonzales, on May 1, 1974. Among her siblings is actor Richard Bonnin, and her cousin is ''

Bagets ''Bagets'' () is a 1984 two-part Filipino youth-oriented comedy film directed by Maryo J. de los Reyes under the production of Viva Films. Plot The movie focuses on the lives of five young boys - boy next door Adie, "overstaying" Tonton, the g ...

'' actor J.C. Bonnin. She is of Spanish ancestry. She attended Bishop Amat Memorial Highschool in

La Puente, California La Puente (Spanish for "The Bridge") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city had a population of 39,816 at the 2010 census and is approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. History The original inhabitants of the ...

, finishing in 1992. She earned a degree in BS Psychology from the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...

. She married Filipino actor

Aga Muhlach Ariel Aquino Muhlach"Aga Muchlach biography"
''IMDB''. Retrieved June 13, 2014. (; born August ...

on May 28, 2001. They have

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

children born on November 5, 2001, named Andrés and Atasha.

Pageant career

Gonzales won the Binibining Pilipinas Universe 1994 title and represented her country at the

pageant held in

, where she won the Best National Costume award and landed in the Top 6. When asked by the host about the number of islands in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, she boldly asked back, “High tide or low tide?”

Television and movie career

She hosted the dance program ''Eezy Dancing'' on ABC-5 (1997–1998) and ''Keep On Dancing'' from (1998–2001) on ABS-CBN and Viva Television Movies on Viva TV. She hosted the show, ''

At Home Ka Dito ''At Home Ka Dito'' (English: ''You're At Home Over Here'') is a Philippine lifestyle program on ABS-CBN. It aired from February 8, 2004, to August 12, 2007. The show is hosted by former Miss Philippines (Universe 1994) Charlene Gonzales-Muhlach ...

'', a

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

lifestyle program airing on

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

. Adding to its branding as a show is the introduction of a reality TV treatment to its features, pioneering what may be a new trend—the reality TV lifestyle show. In 1994, Gonzales got her first film role with

Fernando Poe Jr. Ronald Allan Kelley Poe (August 20, 1939 – December 14, 2004), known professionally as Fernando Poe Jr., and often referred to by his initials FPJ, was a Filipino actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, and politician. His long and s ...

in ''Epimaco Velasco: NBI''. She also starred in ''Ben Delubyo'' with Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. in (1998) and ''Resbak'' with

Phillip Salvador Phillip Mikael "Ipe" Reyes Salvador (born Felipe Reyes Salvador; August 22, 1953) is a three-time FAMAS award-winning Filipino film and television actor. Acting career Salvador made his film debut in 1971 with ''Adios Mi Amor''. He toiled in m ...

(1998).

Television

Films

Awards and nominations

Bb. Pilipinas and Ms. Universe awards

TV awards and nominations

References

External links

Official Binibining Pilipinas website - Past Titleholders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzales, Charlene 1974 births Actresses from Metro Manila Binibining Pilipinas winners Charlene Filipino female models Filipino film actresses Filipino people of Spanish descent Filipino television talk show hosts Living people Miss Universe 1994 contestants People from Muntinlupa Viva Artists Agency ABS-CBN personalities GMA Network personalities