Tunay Na Buhay ni Rhea Santos: Fast facts about the news anchor and host

While she’s usually the one delivering news and doing interviews, Rhea Santos found herself in the hot seat on GMA News TV’s “Tonight with Arnold Clavio.”

TV viewers are familiar with Rhea Santos as the cool and professional host of GMA’s “Unang Hirit” and Public Affairs show “Tunay Na Buhay.” But off camera, Rhea is known to family and friends as down-to-earth and fun-loving.

Here are five facts about herself that she shared during her interview with Arnold Clavio:

Rhea is a certified "Sharonian."

“Bata pa lang ako, OPM na ang pinag-aaralan ko,” the aspiring singer recalled, saying she’s a self-proclaimed big fan of the Megastar Sharon Cuneta.

Once on her birthday, Rhea was surprised by her “Unang Hirit” family with a one-on-one dinner with her idol. The Megastar was even a godmother at Rhea’s eldest son’s baptism. “Sa album ng binyag [ni Uno], mas marami pa yata siyang [Sharon Cuneta] pictures kaysa sa akin [kasi] maraming Sharonians in my family.”

Before becoming a TV host, Rhea was not only a segment producer, but also a ramp and commercial model.

Rhea was on the verge of resigning as an “Unang Hirit” segment producer when the opportunity of being an on-cam talent arrived. “Ang hirap [ng trabaho ko noon], pero kumatok yung opportunity so naisip kong tiisin muna at pagsabayin lahat,” she explained.

But little did we know that Rhea was already posing for the camera and gracing the ramps before her hosting career as a print, TV, and ramp model.

“Nag-endorse ako ng mga pampaputi at shampoo, pero nag-start ako talaga bilang ramp model at gift certificates pa lang ang bayad sa akin noon,” she recalled.

Rhea bakes her own sweet treats.

For “Tunay na Buhay,” Rhea once interviewed actress Ara Mina, who bakes and sells pastries for her business, Hazelberry. After seeing how much Ara enjoyed baking, Rhea was inspired to learn to bake too.

Soon after, she bought materials and started baking together with her son, Uno.  Baking became Rhea’s passion and eventually, business. “I want to succeed in [this] business, too.”

Among the goodies Rhea bakes are chocolate chip cookies, red velvet cupcakes, cheesecake, and pound cakes. She sells her sweet treats to family, friends, and co-workers in GMA. If you check her Twitter and Instagram accounts, you will see that she has really become passionate about baking.

Rhea is a hands-on mom.

Despite her hectic schedule at GMA, Rhea makes it a point to spend quality time with her husband Carlo and sons Uno, aged 5, and Yuan, aged 1 year and 9 months.

Every morning after hosting “Unang Hirit” Rhea goes home to have breakfast with her family. “Paggising ko sa umaga, tulog pa sila. Pero pag-uwi ko, gising na sila, so sabay kaming mag-almusal. Parang hindi ako nawala.”

If there’s one lesson she would want to leave with her sons, it’s this: “Sana magkaroon sila ng respeto sa mga tao – maging sensitive sa  mga tao sa paligid at hindi mang-aapak.”

– Ria Landingin/PF, GMA News