As modern as modern can be

Modern Girls, a new, chic, fun and feminine talk show, premiered on Lifestyle at 9 last night, hosted by Sam Oh, Gretchen Ho and Denise Laurel who personify all aspects of “modern.”

Before venturing into television, Sam was a radio jock who perked up listeners with her witty commentary. She brings to Modern Girls her larger-than-life personality, open-mindedness and classy attitude.

Gretchen played for the UAAP Women’s Volleyball before she landed hosting gigs. Strong, determined and adventurous, Gretchen is considered one of the most admired millennials in the country.

Denise Laurel, ABS-CBN’s Your Face Sounds Familiar 2 champion, is the perfect example of multi-hyphenate… actress-model-singer. As a young mom (set to marry her boyfriend who is a basketball player), Denise’s life experiences will add depth to the show.

Each episode of Modern Girls focuses on a specific theme catering to every modern woman’s interests such as dating, love, health, fitness, beauty, music, art, culture, food and many more!  It will have replays every Sunday at 12:30 p.m.; Monday at 2 a.m.; Tuesday at 7 p.m.; Wednesday at 11 a.m.; and Saturday at 6 a.m. (Lifestyle is available on SKYcable channel 52.)

It’s your first time to co-host a show. How do you think you three will blend?

Gretchen: I think we clicked right off the bat like when we were auditioning, we couldn’t stop talking. I remember we kept on laughing. Time was up and we were still going. I think we’re a lot closer compared to the start.

Denise: It has always been easy like super effortless.

Gretchen: And I’m learning a lot since I’m the youngest.

Denise: We’re learning from each other. Doesn’t matter what age.

Sam: Thankfully, the team that put us together took into consideration what chemistry we’d have before putting us together on the show so I think they did a good job doing that.

Denise: It’s like we’re not working. We’ve taped eight episodes. It’s like we pretty much get paid to hang out.

Sam: We don’t agree on everything.

Denise: But that’s what’s beautiful because when we disagree that’s when we learn from each other rather than arguing.

Sam: We just respect each other’s stupid points of view. I’m just kidding.

(Everyone laughs)

Denise: I do admit that out of the three of us I may be the stupidest.

Gretchen: Uy, grabe!

Sam: Oh my God! Don’t even!

Denise: Pang-pagulo lang. I’m taking one for the team.

Tell us why the show is titled Modern Girls. What is “modern” about the three of you (in attitude, upbringing, outlook, fashion style, etc.)?

Denise: I think we’re all different. And we celebrate each other. That’s one trait of being a modern girl…we don’t pull each other down. But at the same time we’re so different from the cookie-cutter image that’s been placed upon women for years and years that you have to be this way or that way, that you have to look either only chinita, only Pinay. We’re all mixed so I think physically, emotionally, our stature and where we are in life you know with our careers, how we get along; I think that’s being modern.

Gretchen: Just like how you categorize millennials, I think girls deserve another category of their own — girls of today.

Denise: Or no category at all.

Gretchen: Just like what Denise has mentioned, we’re so different from the girls of before. The conservative girl would just stay at home.

Denise: You can still be a modern girl and still be conservative but you don’t have to necessarily dress up with eyeglasses. I’m conservative but I look the farthest away.

Sam: Parang hindi naman.

(Everybody laughs)

Denise: Conservative doesn’t necessarily have to mean physically conservative. I’m a good mix of traditional and modern.

Gretchen: And that’s how we are. We’re a mix of traditional and modern. We try to balance everything out. We try to multi-task. We’re super girls. It’s about figuring out how to deal with different issues that a modern girl faces. Like right now, I think girls are more empowered than ever in the Philippines. We’re so outspoken, we try to get into positions of influence.

Denise: We want to have it all.

Gretchen: And it’s good to sit down and just talk about it.

Denise: And it’s OK not to be perfect. You gotta be comfortable with who you are, what you look like, what God made you, or whatever it is that you like and it’s OK. We’re all different and it’s OK.

Sam: What can I possibly add to that?

What do the three of you have in common?

Gretchen: We’re all beautiful and sexy and gorgeous.

Denise: I think we’re all intelligent.

Gretchen: We’re all confident individuals. We obviously have different lives, different ages and different stages of being a woman like Denise is a mother, different walks of life.

Denise: Gretchen is taken. (Gretchen’s boyfriend is Robi Domingo, the Pinoy Big Brother [PBB] graduate who is making a name as TV/events host. — RFL)

Gretchen: I’m single. Not yet married.

Denise: Being single is not a bad thing.

Sam: No, not at all. We’re all in different stages of being a woman. Different walks of life and going through different experience as women. At this day and age, it’s an interesting time to be a woman because we’re very empowered. You can make choices that don’t necessarily come from pressures from society, how you’re expected to act, and stuff like that. And we’re all living out these different lives in a really interesting time. And I think that’s what we have in common. And we’re free to do that.

Denise: And I think the show will also inspire women who are still hesitating to take that step of breaking through into the times like you know it’s hard. Here in the Philippines, we care about how people think. People care about tsismis, what people are going to say about how we look. There’s just so much pressure and I hope with this show, it will give everyone the nudge to break through and embrace how God made you. Because He’s the best artist anyway. He doesn’t make mistakes. We’re all confidently beautiful with a heart.

Looking ahead, on what points will you agree or disagree? Do your opinions on issues differ? What is your take on cosmetic surgery, risks of social media (have you ever been bashed? If not, how do you avoid it?) Give tips to viewers on the proper use of social media.

Sam: Of course, our opinions differ from time to time.

Denise: If we always agreed, the show would be so boring.

Sam: Like what’s the point of having the three of us there?

Gretchen: Cosmetic surgery, for me, it actually depends on you on what makes you feel confident about yourself, on what makes you feel beautiful. Because people get bullied because of their looks and if that’s the reason for you to get cosmetic surgery, then I wouldn’t have any problem with it but if you just want to be accepted by people or noticed, I think it depends on the reason. But for me, personally, I would rather not have any super invasive cosmetic surgery.

Sam: Mga botox-botox lang.

Gretchen: Firming lang.

Denise: Machines-machines lang. Do you know that machine for boobs?

Sam: To perk them up?

Denise: No, to make them bigger. It’s like a brassier that you wear that’s battery-operated.

Gretchen: You know, I learn a lot from Denise. She taught me how to do make-up.

Denise: I did not. You’re beautiful.

Sam: Oh, what did you learn from me?

(Everybody laughs)

Gretchen: Sense of humor.

Sam: I can’t really judge. Like, you know, people who do it because who knows what their logic is? Personally, it’s a little scary to me just because I’m the type who gets pale when I’m like donating blood or something. I can’t say either for sure na I’m never gonna do that because who knows maybe down the line, things start sagging and I’d want to tuck things a little bit like I don’t know what’s going to happen. I really cannot judge people who do it. I feel bad though for people who get stuff done and it’s so obvious and they think we can’t tell but who are you kidding.

Denise: For me, growing up in the industry, theater at six, TV at 10. I grew up at a time where my looks were different from the other actresses that were around. The big lips, almond eyes, dark but not white thing with the big curly hair didn’t really fit in yet until the Kardashians of the world came in and the Penelope Cruzes and Angelina Jolies. I had a lot of pressure from a lot of people in the industry to change the way that I look.

Sam: Like did they suggest cosmetic surgery?

Denise: I’ve been told by directors that they don’t like my face. They don’t like my lips, they’re too curly on top, and it’s too puffy. They don’t like my eyes. Growing up, to stand firm was really difficult. It’s great that I had my parents. When I’m not working, all my friends were just my friends from school or theater. I grew up with a good group of people around me but I can understand people who do it out of pressure or for the wrong reasons. I can’t really judge anybody else.

Gretchen: On the risks of social media, my motto when it comes to that is if you don’t get bashed, it means you’re not courageous enough with your life.

Sam: But you also don’t have to put all of it out there and be bashed for it.

Gretchen: Like, for example, people who get bashed on social media are the ones who usually stand out. Like for volleyball players, those who do taunting at the Net, they get bashed on social media or people who stand up for their beliefs or people who voice out the reality they get bashed just because they are courageous enough to speak the truth.

Denise: But they don’t do it to get bashed.

Gretchen: If nobody ever criticizes you, then you’re not making a mark. That, for me, is my motto when it comes to social media.

Sam: So you just want to get bashed?

Gretchen: No naman. That’s just my way of accepting criticisms. I’m an advocate of different things so if I voice out my opinions on a certain issue, there will always be a backlash.

Sam: A lot of people just kind of think social media is just putting on a show. I sometimes worry about this generation that grew up with social media as a norm and how that would affect how they see the world and how they project themselves. It’s alarming for me, I don’t even have kids yet and I’m worried about them.

Denise: Only put things out there that you want to share and if you get bashed for it, remember that it was your choice. It’s like you don’t air your dirty laundry in public. Don’t put anything out there that you don’t want your children to see, that you’re not going to be proud of 10 years from now. If you’re going to put something out there, make sure na paninindigan mo and if you get bashed for it, remember that these people are behind computers and they all have something to say as long as you’re not hurting anybody, as long as you’re happy with what you’re doing, you’re not offending anyone, go girl, go guy, go human being!

What else can we expect from Modern Girls?

Sam: The point is to sit with these two girls, share our experiences and being women in 2016. I think there’s a lot of learning along with the audience. I don’t think of this show as a platform to do a lot of advice. It’s just nice to have people hold your hand through it and have fun.

Gretchen: We’re all real. And you get to have a sneak peek into our lives.

Denise: What I love about this show is for everyone to know that there’s no such thing as perfect. We’re all learning together. We’re all having “oops” moments together, “aha” moments together, it’s really cool. I hope they also have those moments along with us.