Melisa "Melai" Bunayog Cantiveros Francisco (; born April 6, 1988) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

actress, comedian, and host. She came to prominence in 2009, after winning '' Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up''. In 2015, she won the first season of the Filipino version of ''

Your Face Sounds Familiar ''Your Face Sounds Familiar'' ( Spanish: ''Tu cara me suena'') is a Spanish interactive reality television franchise series where celebrity contestants impersonate singers. The format, similar to Dutch television series ''Soundmixshow'', was ...

''. She is currently one of

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 ...

's contract talents. She currently hosts a morning talk show, ''

Magandang Buhay ''Magandang Buhay'' () is a Philippine morning talk show that premiered on April 18, 2016, and airs every Monday to Friday at 09:00 ( PST), replacing ''Kris TV''. The show was originally broadcast on ABS-CBN until the network's shutdown in 2020. ...

'', alongside

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 ...

who left in 2022 and

Jolina Magdangal Maria Jolina Perez Magdangal-Escueta (; born November 6, 1978) is a Filipina singer, actress, television presenter, and entrepreneur. She is referred to in the Philippines as the Queen of Pinoy Popular Culture (or simply as Pop Icon) and is ...

Personal life

Melai Cantiveros was born in

General Santos General Santos, officially the City of General Santos,; hil, Dakbanwa sang Heneral Santos; Maguindanao language, Maguindanao: ''Ingud nu Heneral Santos''; Blaan language, Blaan: ''Banwe Dadiangas''; Tboli language, Tboli: ''Benwu Dadiangas'' ...

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 ...

, to Dionisio and Virginia Cantiveros. She is the third of four siblings and the only daughter. She studied at Mindanao State University–General Santos. In the university, she was an activist and a member of a

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

party. On the September 8, 2013, episode of '' The Buzz'', she revealed in an interview with

Boy Abunda Eugenio Romerica Abunda Jr. (; born October 29, 1960), popularly known as Boy Abunda, is a Filipino professor, television host, publicist and talent manager. Early life and education Boy Abunda was born as Eugenio Romerica Abunda Jr. in Boro ...

that she is getting married with

Jason Francisco Jason Veron Francisco (born October 11, 1987)Jason Francisco's Bio
. Pinoy Big Brother

on December 9, 2013, and was pregnant with their first child. Their daughter was born in General Santos. On July 26, 2016, however, she and Francisco confirmed their separation from their marriage of almost three years through their daughter's

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. They have since reconciled, and at the same time, announced that they are expecting a second child. She has since given birth to a second child.

Career

In October 2009, Cantiveros entered the ''Big Brother'' house along with 25 other housemates. After 133 days, she was able to garner enough votes to reach the final episode wherein she won the competition by getting 1,226,675 votes or 32.08% of the entire votes. In February 2010, Cantiveros did guesting in several talk shows like '' The Buzz'', '' SNN: Showbiz News Ngayon'', and ''

Entertainment Live ''Entertainment Live'' (also known as ''E-Live'') is a Philippine showbiz oriented talk show broadcast by ABS-CBN airing every Saturday afternoon after the defunct noontime show ''Happy Yipee Yehey!''. The show premiered August 4, 2007, replac ...

''. She was also invited to variety shows such as '' ASAP ROCKS''. She and her real life partner,

Jason Francisco Jason Veron Francisco (born October 11, 1987)Jason Francisco's Bio
. Pinoy Big Brother

, starred in a reality show spin off entitled ''

Melason In Love ''Melason'' is a Philippine reality series that follows Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up contestants and real-life couple Melisa Cantiveros and Jason Francisco. It started broadcasting on ABS-CBN on February 22, 2010. It features behind the scenes ...

''. Cantiveros was also cast in the daytime drama ''

Impostor An impostor (also spelled imposter) is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often through means of disguise. Their objective is usually to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but also often for purposes ...

''. She also landed a main role in the fantaserye show, '' Kokey @ Ako''. She also played a main role in ''

Maalaala Mo Kaya ''Maalaala Mo Kaya'' (; formerly written as ''Maala-ala Mo Kaya...''; abbreviated as ''MMK''), also known as ''Memories'', is a Philippines, Philippine television drama anthology show broadcast by Kapamilya Channel under ABS-CBN Entertainment. ...

'' as a maid named Pangga. She became one of the hosts on the now defunct noon time show ''

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

''. She also played a main role as Brandy De la Paz in ''

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, ...

Mana Po ''Mana Po'' () is a Philippine romantic-drama comedy TV series aired by ABS-CBN. It is the 14th installment of the '' Precious Hearts Romances Presents'' series. It aired from February 21, 2011, to April 1, 2011, replacing '' Juanita Banana'' ...

'' before the show ended in late March. In February 2015, Cantiveros is the one of the contestants and the winner of ''

''.

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantiveros, Melisa 1988 births Living people People from General Santos Visayan people Filipino film actresses Filipino Roman Catholics Filipino television actresses Filipino women comedians Pinoy Big Brother contestants Big Brother (franchise) winners Your Face Sounds Familiar winners Star Magic ABS-CBN personalities