What Mich Dulce Learned as an OG ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ Celebrity Housemate

Since its debut in 2005, Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) has evolved into a cultural institution, shaping the landscape of Pinoy reality TV and launching countless careers and controversies along the way. Even the most casual viewer can name a standout housemate or recite a viral moment that escaped the yellow-and-blue house, lodging itself in the national pop culture psyche. Now in its 18th overall season — and third celebrity season — PBB still finds new ways to worm itself into Pinoy pop culture. 

But not every show alum embraces their PBB past with equal enthusiasm. Mich Dulce is many things: a fashion designer, milliner, feminist, musician, and, reluctantly, a former housemate on Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition 1, the show’s first celebrity season in 2006.

“I guess for this interview I’m an ex-PBB contestant,” Dulce begrudgingly told Rolling Stone Philippines, “but that’s just one part of me.” Her season, which featured celebrities such as actor and season runner-up John Prats, TV personality and now-PBB host Bianca Gonzalez, and actor Zanjoe Marudo, was a mix of high drama and tense house fights that have shaped Dulce’s views on fame and life after leaving the PBB house.

Nearly twenty years after PBB thrust her into the national spotlight, Dulce has cultivated a creative career that far outshines her era on Pinoy reality TV. Her designer hats have graced the heads of icons like Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, and Paris Hilton. Her millinery work has been seen in the runways of both London and Paris Fashion Week.

But if you ask any devout PBB fan, especially one tuned in during the show’s early years, Dulce’s name may still spark memories of her infamous fight with season winner Keanna Reeves and her early forced eviction from the house, due to an anxiety-induced asthma attack that required immediate medical attention and cut her PBB journey short.

In this candid conversation with Rolling Stone Philippines, Dulce looks back on how PBB producer Lauren Dyogi’s scent convinced her to sign onto the show, the horrors she faced inside the house, and why her reality TV days don’t define who she is today.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Are you following the new season?

Absolutely not. I don’t watch any of the seasons. Not even mine. I’d never even watched Big Brother before being on Big Brother.

Really? Not even clips?

I had no idea what the show was. I was living in the U.K. at the time, so I was kind of oblivious to the pop culture storm surrounding the show — and, in a way, I guess I still am. Oblivious, I mean.

How did they get you to be on the show?

I got this call to audition for it, and I think… Well, maybe it was because I was already a designer, and I had my own store. I even had my own band, Death by Tampon. I guess they were looking for an alternative person, someone who wasn’t a pop star or something.

I wasn’t sure about going in. But I did go in for a meeting with Lauren Dyogi, and I think that’s what did it. Like, when he walked up to me, I was like, “BANG! You got me.” He smelled so good. And he was so handsome, and I think I was so hypnotized by him. He kept telling me, “You’re [going to be] so cute and everyone’s gonna love you. It’s a paid holiday, and it’s [going to be] great.” Shit, it was his smell.

What did he smell like?

Like a hot man. A hot, sexy man. I’m so sorry, because I respect him, but he just smells hot.

So I’m guessing the smell worked?

I think I signed the contract on the spot.

I told my best friends Quark [Henares] and Goldie [Poblador], and they were like, “Why would you do that? You know you have to be the cutest, kindest version of yourself on this show, right?” I was like, “Oh yeah, I can do that.” But Quark said, “Um, but you’re super tactless. You’re not made for this shit. They’re going to hate you the second you go in.”

I really didn’t know anything about the show going in. You know how I prepped? I was doing weird things like calling Team Manila and asking them for T-shirts to wear because I wanted to rep them and kind of just look like all my musician friends on national TV.  I really didn’t prepare for [PBB] the way I should have. I just thought it was [going to be] so funny. I thought it was going to be a sort of joke.

Oh, I’m sure you were a little bit prepared, right?

No. You know how unprepared I was? When I got to the house, they were like, “Oh, we’re going to take away your books now.” I was like, “Huh? What?” I didn’t read any of the fine print. I didn’t know we weren’t allowed to bring anything in, because you’re not allowed to have hobbies in the house. You also can’t even communicate with the outside world. I wasn’t even allowed to bring pens in because you can’t send each other secret messages. The first thing I thought was, “Holy shit. I just made a big mistake.” 

Did your other housemates feel the same way?

I don’t know about the other people. But for me, it was just like, “What the fuck is this?” I think most people — and this isn’t me being judgmental — really train for this. Like, they really want to be on Big Brother. It’s a career thing for them. But I already had a career, so that’s really not what I was there for. If Lauren Dyogi weren’t hot and if he didn’t smell good, I probably would have said no. Ha!

What was your first day like in the house?

Okay, wait, this is the most important part before I get into all the house drama. I remember them telling us that every week, [housemates] need to see a shrink. You’re supposed to look out for your mental health.

Anyway. So on day one, we all arrived on these boats, right? And then we were blindfolded and brought into this van. I already knew that John [Prats] was going to be there, and I was friends with him before, so I kind of saw comfort in that. 

They made things so difficult for us. There were no beds. Pillows were made out of wood. They wanted it to be like Survivor. They took our suitcases away.

Well, they took half our suitcases away. Mine was one of the ones that didn’t arrive and, look, obviously I have big boobs, right? I couldn’t share bras with anyone in the house, so the only person I could share with was Keanna Reeves, who eventually won the show. So, we became fast friends [from] the start. She told me all her sob stories, stuff like that.

I only realized this after I left but we all became friends so quickly. You’re bonded because you’re with these people 24/7, sharing a bed, sharing a bathroom. In those few days, you’ve built a whole lifetime of friendship. Like, I thought Keanna would be my best friend forever, but it’s really just how close you get in there.

Was there anything else you realized about staying in the house?

They don’t let you sleep. We don’t have watches in the house, so there are days when you don’t really know what time it is anymore. I think they’d let us sleep [for] around three hours a day, then wake us up to do more tasks.

Looking back, I wonder if they did that on purpose, to make sure we weren’t in the best mood. You’re not allowed to take naps either, so a big part of the drama on Big Brother comes from the fact that you’re always a little agitated.

So when I’d go in and talk to the house therapist, I’d be complaining a lot. And then the shrink would be like, “Oh, you should definitely bring that up to this person or that person.” On an ordinary day, outside of the house, I probably wouldn’t have brought any of it up. But in the house…I feel maybe that [therapist] was there to give everyone good TV.

How do you feel looking back on your time in the house?

I really cringe thinking about all that. But at the same time, it was such a funny, unique experience, too. And I did so many weird things in that house. Like, I volunteered to shave my head. I didn’t have to, but I shaved it to get P100,000 for my yaya. But because it was such a weird fucking scenario…I really felt my mental health go down. I could feel myself going insane, even though I was only [in] there for two weeks.

I think during the second week, there was this task where we had to teach this myna bird how to say “Pinoy Big Brother” in one week. At this point, I was losing my mind. I was talking to this bird in its cage and going like, “I know how you feel, in your cage. That’s how I feel.”

The first week was great, because I was hanging out with all these people. But after the first [therapist] meeting and then after really getting to know everyone, it’s like, “Oh shit. This is horrible.” And then the second week turns into a week from hell, because you start fighting.

What do you remember about that second week?

It was very intense. Obviously, I’m not great at shutting my mouth, and I was never skilled at being tactful.

I have this specific memory of Keana jump-roping and the boys were making fun of her boobs. I just thought that was crazy. You can’t do that. And I can’t sit here and watch these guys mock this girl and make her jump rope. So I called them out, and that’s kind of where it started.

And then when I shaved my head…I volunteered to do it because I wanted to give it to my yaya. After all, she could definitely use P100,000. But I started stressing over how my hair wouldn’t grow well, and that’s where the anxiety really started.

I started making myself wigs. It was crazy. I was making myself wigs out of yarn on a fucking small sewing machine, and it wasn’t working. But again, I was really stressed out about it. I remember going around the house kind of just talking to everyone about it.

And then I went up to Keanna to stress to her about the whole week, but then she went into her rage. I can’t remember her trigger point, but she was saying something along the lines of like, “Everything’s a big deal. Like, don’t cut your hair then.” It was the big fight of the season, right? She was really shouting at me.

You left the show sometime after then, right?

Yeah, that was the start of my mental breakdown. Then I had my panic attack, and I have asthma, too, so it was really quite scary. When I got to the hospital, they told me that if I had been two minutes late, I would have died, because my dad had had asthma, and he had died of it.

But you know, looking back, it was so funny. I was in the hospital recovering from how horrific everything was and then [former journalist] Tim Yap came in, pretended to be my brother, and got quotes from me. Like, dude, I was shaking. I was on antidepressants, the doctors put me on those because I was so traumatized from the show. I’d never been on antidepressants before then. But hey, he just wanted to get the scoop.

God, the picture they used of me — it was me in my hospital bed. The front page of Inquirer was me in my hospital bed, looking basically fearful for this interview.

That must have been so traumatic.

It was. But it was also really funny, the way people were reacting to me. Like, ABS-CBN even ambush-interviewed my band at a gig they were playing in UP Fair, and those are my closest girls, right? They just lost it, went on a fucking girl band rampage, and were screaming, “[Mich] would never act this way! She’s not okay, she’s having a mental breakdown in there, get her out! Fuck you, capitalist motherfuckers!” It was just a lot of swearing at ABS-CBN.

I mean, of course the [show’s] editors chose to focus on all the drama-causing stuff in the house. Obviously, it’s [reality] TV. But that’s also the flaw, I think, of reality shows. It’s intense, and they’re also not looking out for your mental health. But that was the start of reality TV in Manila, right? I don’t think we had anything like that until Pinoy Big Brother. It was such a pioneer.

Would you do it again?

It was horrific. But again, still really funny. Like, I’ll still see everyone after how many years and have a good “ha, ha” moment because it was such a weird, shared experience. Obviously, I never spoke to Keanna again after that. I don’t think I spoke to half the house after that, too. It was mad.

Do you feel there’s a sense of loss there? 

I don’t know. It was all so strange but also so real. I wish I’d watched the show before going in to understand what was going on. Like, on my first day, I was just going around being like, “I’m a designer, I design things.” And then there was Keanna going around and telling people, “Oh, I have to find money to feed my children.” Like, that girl was always going to win because she knew how to play the game.

Are you a competitive person?

I am when it matters to me and I guess Pinoy Big Brother just didn’t.

I would have hated it if Pinoy Big Brother ended up being this big thing that defined me. It’s just not. My big challenge after leaving the house was that suddenly I was being identified for being on the show, and I was like, “Wait a second. I do all of these other things.” I’m sorry, but I’m too cool and alternative for this shit. Every time I hear that fucking song by Orange and Lemons, I get PTSD.

What has life been like post-PBB?

I just don’t say no to stuff. Everyone says my big problem is that I don’t focus on one thing, but I think that’s just my nature. I design. I make hats and clothes. I teach fashion design at The King’s Foundation. I’ve set up exhibitions. I’m building a brand, which is set to launch this September. I’ve been in bands, and I’ve been making music all of my life.

Right now, I have my first band here in the U.K. We’re called Mich Dulce and Her Midnight Callers, which has been such a fun experience because we were funded by Tim Burgess, the lead singer of The Charlatans. We’ve got a release coming up on June 13th.

It’s interesting to me. Here, we’ll tie it back to Big Brother. Like, I was already on fricking Pinoy Big Brother, so I’ve already established myself in the Philippines. But now that I’m here in the U.K., I’ve kind of had to reestablish myself. It’s strange, but it’s happening.

Do you have any advice for aspiring PBB housemates?

Don’t do it, motherfuckers.