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 A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though ...

, endorser,

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

, 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 Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to t ...

due to her parents' separation at her youth. She studied at

De La Salle Santiago Zobel School The De La Salle Santiago Zobel School, also referred to by its acronym DLSZ or De La Salle Zobel ( Filipino: Paaralang De La Salle Santiago Zobel), is a private Catholic basic education institution for boys and girls run by the Philippine Distric ...

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 university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...

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 state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Career

Rodriguez started her career at the age of 15 as a commercial model, which included

Clean & Clear Clean & Clear is an American brand of dermatology products owned by Johnson & Johnson. Most products aim towards young women and men, but some treat a wider range of conditions, such as the "SOFT" line. Clean & Clear is currently available in 46 c ...

. In 2004, she was cast in

MTV Asia MTV was a pan-Asian music pay-television channel which launched on 3 May 1995 as a standalone pay television channel. It was owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA. History MTV Asia was officially launched on 3 May 1995 as a 24-hour English-languag ...

's television show ''

Rouge Rouge is the French word for "red" and may refer to: Compounds * Rouge (cosmetics), a cosmetic used to color the cheeks and emphasize the cheekbones * Jeweler's rouge or iron(III) oxide * Rouging, a form of corrosion applicable to stainless ...

''. 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 MTV Philippines was a 24-hour music/entertainment television network owned by All Youth Channels, Inc., through a partnership with MTV Networks Asia Pacific. The network originally started its broadcast on January 1, 2001. Two other MTV-brand ...

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 networ ...

'', 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 ''Pinoy Big Brother'', more popularly known by its abbreviated title ''PBB'', is the Philippine version of the '' Big Brother'' reality game show franchise. The word '' Pinoy'' in the title is a colloquial term for the Filipino people. Is a Phi ...

'' until 2010. Later, she became well known for co-hosting the noon-time programs ''

Wowowee ''Wowowee'' () is a Philippine noontime variety show that was broadcast by ABS-CBN from 2005 to 2010. The show premiered on February 5, 2005, and aired live on weekdays and Saturdays. The show was also broadcast worldwide through ABS-CBN's The ...

'' (2006–10), '' Pilipinas Win Na Win'' (2010), and ''

Happy Yipee Yehey! ''Happy Yipee Yehey!'' is a Philippine noontime variety show that was broadcast by ABS-CBN and worldwide through The Filipino Channel.

'' (2011). Additionally, Rodriguez also acted in the '' Komiks'' 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 Wilfredo Buendia Revillame (; born January 27, 1961), popularly known as Willie Revillame, is a Filipino television host, comedian, singer, songwriter, actor, and businessman. Career Revillame started out as the host of GMA Network's noontime ...

's variety show ''

Wil Time Bigtime ''Wil Time Bigtime'' (formerly known as ''Willing Willie'') is a Philippine primetime variety-game show broadcast by TV5. The show premiered on October 23, 2010, with its main host Willie Revillame. The show commemorated its first anniversary ...

'' from 2011 to 2013, which upon its cancellation was followed by ''

Wowowillie ''Wowowillie'' is a Philippine noontime variety show aired by TV5. The show premiered on January 26, 2013, and was broadcast live from TV5's Delta Studio in Quezon City, with its main host and producer, Willie Revillame. The show earned the di ...

'', 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 Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

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''. To ...

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 in ...

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 su ...

. In 2015, Rodriguez was tapped as the guest host of '' It's Showtime'' along with

Amy Perez Maria Armida Parale Perez-Castillo (born September 5, 1969), known professionally as Amy Perez-Castillo or Tyang Amy (), is a Filipino TV and radio presenter, entrepreneur and occasional actress. Recognized as a veteran television host in the ...

. Weeks later, she confirmed their official participation on the show as main co-hosts.

Personal life

Rodriguez is an

American citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

. She married actor-director

Robin Padilla Robinhood Ferdinand Cariño Padilla (; born November 23, 1969), known professionally as Robin Padilla, is a Filipino politician, television personality, martial artist, actor and director currently serving as a Senator of the Philippines since ...

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 ...

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 so ...

on August 19, 2010. They had met on the Philippine noon time variety show ''

'' when Padilla was temporarily a presenter. Rodriguez, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, did not convert to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

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 adjacent Del ...

. 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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In September 2022, Rodriguez officially signed a contract with AMBS to be part of the new Channel 2 TV Station, ALLTV.

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