How Yassi makes ‘criticism’ work to her advantage as host

MANILA, Philippines — Yassi Pressman is now more confident and comfortable with her hosting skills as she returns as presenter on TV5’s Rolling In It Philippines Season 2, which is based on the British arcade game show of the same name.

“This time, parang mas kumportable na po siguro. Kasi dati parang nahihiya pa ako. How far can we push it? How comfortable can I be talking to people? Pero ngayon sabi nila, ‘Go lang, Yas.’ Be yourself. If nire-reciprocate nila, eh di sasakyan na natin,” she said during the media conference held recently.

She expressed excitement to reprise her role as host of the television program, carrying with her the lessons she learned and constructive criticism she received during season one, which took off June last year.

“You have to always be your 150 percent kapag nag-ho-host lalo ‘pag mag-isa ka sa game show,” shared Yassi. “That’s one reason why I was so nervous to take it because I wasn’t sure if I could do it. But that’s the one thing that I learned and to be super open to converse with everybody and listen attentively.”

The 27-year-old actress, performer and entrepreneur admitted she tends to be a perfectionist sometimes and happy-go-lucky, free-spirited at times. “But when I’m watching (Rolling In It), I do see sometimes, like last season, that I could speak so fast. Sobrang bilis ko pong magsalita,” she commented. “So, yun din yung sinabi sa akin ni direk. Direk is always there to guide me and to give me advice. Like, if there’s a better way to do it, they’ll tell me. It’s nice because I can accept it. It’s because I know it’s constructive all the time. And that’s how you learn, just accept you’re not always the best, di ba? You have to learn every time.”

She cited several local celebrity hosts as her peg, such as Toni Gonzaga for being “very prim and proper,” Mariel Rodriguez for “always being a bit kalog,” Bianca Gonzalez for being “very proper as well,” Alex Gonzaga for “being kalog lang like she doesn’t care,” and MJ Marfori for her quick wit. “There’s everything in anybody. But I want to try to be my own self and create my own style. I don’t know what it is yet but I guess I’ll figure it out,” she said of her hosting approach.

Aside from being a presenter, Yassi also expressed her interest to do another movie after the “overwhelming audience response” of More Than Blue on Netflix. “We’ve been out for three weeks and we’re still No.1 on Netflix. Grabe po sobrang nakakatuwa. We really put our heart and soul into that, kami ni JC (Santos), Diego (Loyzaga), Ara (Ariella Arida), and of course, direk Nuel Naval, a masterpiece creator. I just wanna make more movies,” she said.

On the other hand, it was her FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano character as Alyana Arevalo which she considered her luckiest break so far. “That really changed my life and the life that I can give to my family,” she said and thanked Dreamscape Entertainment, Ang Probinsyano team and Viva for the project. If given the chance, she is also open to portraying another leading lady role to Ang Probinsyano star Coco Martin.

She also remembered the late film icon Susan Roces, her co-actor in the longest-running Philippine television series who passed away recently. “She offered me some advice. Ganun po si Tita Sue. We spent a lot of time together and she said, ‘Keep doing this for your family. Lagi kang magtitira para sa sarili mo,’” she recalled.

Meanwhile, when pressed about the current status of her love life, Yassi replied, “Super happy. ‘Rolling in it’ sa joy, happiness.” She was specifically asked if there is a special someone and she teased: “Siguro. Yung clue po sa next season po ng Rolling In It. Abangan niyo po.”

(Rolling In It Philippines Season 2 airs every Saturday night at 7:30 on TV5. Catch-up episodes will be available on Cignal TV Channel 3 and SatLite Channel 30. It can also be watched live and on-demand via the Cignal Play App, which is free to download for Android and iOS users.)