ABS-CBN’s “Pinoy Big Brother Kumunity Season 10” begins its search for new housemates, and one of its hosts, Toni Gonzaga, offers advice to aspirants.

“Advice na lang sa mga gustong pumasok sa Bahay ni Kuya (My advice to those who want to enter the PBB House), you have to know who you are,” Gonzaga said during the online press conference yesterday, Aug. 30, for the hit TV show.

Gonzaga thinks that if the aspiring housemate does not know who he/she is, “when you go inside the house, you will copy somebody’s personality, you will be somebody else, waiting for somebody else’s approval.”

“If you don’t know who you are, you will become whoever they want you to be,” she explained of the process. “Hanggang sa magiging lost ka na sa buhay mo kasi hindi mo alam kung sino ka talaga.” (Until you get lost about your own life because you don’t know who you really are.)

Gonzaga believes it is important to for a contender to know one’s self so that “you will not be persuaded, you will not be influenced, you will not be affected by what other people think of you or what other people say about you.”

As one of the original hosts of PBB, Gonzaga remembers the first Big Night as one of the most memorable experiences she had.

“I remember, I memorized all my spiels,” she said.

She recalled that she and Mariel Rodriguez were designated in different places in Clark, Pampanga.

toni gonzaga ig — Toni Gonzaga. Image: Instagram/@celestinegonzaga

“Ang main host kasi ng first season was Kuya Willy Revillame. So kami, we were designated sa iba’t ibang lugar sa Clark Expo. So wala ka talagang prompter na nakaantabay sa iyo. ‘Yung mga writers namin ay hindi pa ganoon karami at that time so talagang sariling sikap,” she narrated.

(The main host of the first season was Willy Revillame. So as for us, we were designated in different parts of Clark Expo. There were no prompters to help you. We did not have that many writers, so we really had to be resourceful.)

Gnzaga said it’s memorable for her because she learned so much about hosting from the show, such as “what-to-do and what-not-to-do.”

To audition for “PBB Kumunity Season 10,” hopefuls need to download the Kumu app, create an account and upload a 1-minute Kumu clip. In the clips, the aspirants will introduce themselves and say why they deserve to become a housemate, while also using the hashtag “PBBKumuAdults.”

Auditions for the Adult Edition, for those who are 20 to 40 years old, will be until Sept. 30, while auditions for the Teen Edition, for those 15 to 19 years old, will begin from Dec. 1 to 31. The teens version will use the hashtag “PBBKumuTeens.” JB

Toni Gonzaga’s ‘My Sassy Girl’ finished production last December, awaits reopening of cinemas