
Traditional Filipino customs will be on full display in an upcoming episode of the animated children's TV show, Blue's Clues & You!
The episode, to be aired this Friday, November 20, on Nickelodeon, will see Filipino-American host, Josh Dela Cruz, welcome his “lola” (Filipino-Canadian actress, Carolyn Fe) to his home and introduces her to the viewers.
He then hugs her and does the customary mano or the Filipino gesture of showing respect to elders.
The show will also highlight the popular Filipino Christmas snack bibingka, with Josh together with his dog, Blue, and his lola, coming together in the kitchen to create the delicacy.
Josh, whose full name is Joshua Dela Cruz, is a Broadway actor and appeared in the theater run of Aladdin.
He bested more than 3,000 candidates, including WWE wrestler John Cena, who auditioned to host the children's show.
Josh was hand-picked by original Blue's Clues host Steve Burns to host the show.
The Fil-Am actor-host, who succeeded Donovan Patton as host, made his Blue's Clues debut on November 11, 2019.
“They're such big shoes to fill since they're such important parts of people's lives and how they grew up that I was definitely hesitant and anxious about doing a good enough job,” Josh confided in a December 2019 interview published on Forbes.
“Steve Burns pulled me aside and was like, 'We cast you for you. We love everything that you're doing, everything that you bring to the table, so don't feel like you have to copy or replicate anything that I or Donovan Patton did in the past. This is your house now.'”