More than 20 years after debut, Sexbomb is still dancing forward: 'Hangga't may bata, may ispageting pababa'

You'll be pressed to find a Filipino who hasn't heard of Sexbomb.

Just recently, the group made waves anew when they were tapped to feature in a catchy commercial for a streaming giant, and their parody of "The Spaghetti Song" had netizens laughing and feeling nostalgic. The iconic group is also set to make their comeback with a US tour this year!

Formed in 1999, Sexbomb was the show-stealer in Eat Bulaga's "Laban o Bawi" segment. In the span of their career, they released eight albums and starred in television drama "Daisy Siete."

And then in 2013, the original Sexbomb Girls took a step back from showbiz. But even then, their sisterhood remained strong.

In the latest episode of "Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho," the members said that they never broke up.

"Actually po noon pa man po e nagsho-show na rin po kami, nagsasama-sama," Jopay said.

(“We’d do shows together.”)

"Intact pa rin naman po kami," Mia Pangyarihan added.

(“Sexbomb Girls as a group is still intact.”)

Monic said that they consider each other as family. "Naglayu-layo, 'yung iba naka-abroad pero 'pag nagkita-kita."

(“We may have physically drifted apart, but we’d still see each other once in a while.”)

They added that they can never distance their names from Sexbomb.

Challenges as Sexbomb

The members of Sexbomb have endless stories of the challenges they experienced together when they first ventured into the spotlight.

They revealed that there were strict rules they had to follow back then, one of which was "bawal ang boyfriend."

Monic, however, had a very unique way of getting around that.

"Two years na po kaming mag boyfriend," she recalled. "Tapos sabi niya, 'Bawal na may relasyon.' Tapos may penalty half million or one million? So ang ginawa po namin ni Macoy, 'yung asawa ko po kasi mag-sa-sign na po ng contract. Mabilisan nagpakasal po kami sa Pampanga para 'yung pag-sign ko po ng contract wala na po siyang magagawa. Alangan paghiwalayin niya kami, married na nga e."

(“We’ve been in a relationship for two years then. We were told that we weren’t allowed to have a boyfriend, because there would be a penalty. So what we did was we secretly got married in Pampanga. So they could not separate us since we were already married.”)

Another rule they had to follow was that they couldn't simply get a haircut. They were supposed to have long hair, so they would look similar to each other on stage.

Even their movements had to look the same.

Jopay said that to become a Sexbomb member, one had to have emotional strength.

"Kasi didiretsahin ka talaga, 'Ang tigas ng katawan mo,'" she said. "'Pag balat sibuyas ka, hindi mo kaya, out ka na. Lahat 'yun pinagdaanan namin."

(“They’d be really frank with you, so you have to be really strong or you’d end up leaving.”)

Sandy added, "Kasi dapat tanggapin mo para matuto ka at i-improve 'yung sarili, ganun po dapat."

(“We had to accept that it was part of improving ourselves and our craft.”)

Being young at the time, it was inevitable that Sexbomb Girls broke some rules.

This led to their former manager Joy Cancio to put trackers in their phones.

"Mga 4 a.m. na kami nakauwi from show. Meron time kinuha ni Ate Joy lahat ng cellphone natin. Hindi namin alam na tracker siya," Mia said. "Gumimik kami ni Aira... maya-maya nag-text si Ate Joy, 'Nasaan kayo?'"

"Nagpapanggap kaming tulog na. Tapos sabi niya, ''Pag hindi kayo lumabas diyan sa kyineme na bar na 'yan, papasukin ko kayo diyan!'"

(“It was 4 AM, we just got back from a show. We didn’t know that Ate Joy had trackers installed on our phones. We decided to go out and have fun. A while later, Ate Joy texted us, asking where we were. We planned to pretend that we were already sleeping but she told us that if we don’t get out of the bar, she’d drag us out herself.”)

Going forward

In the year 2023, there is no denying that the Sexbomb Girls each have their own lives.

Sandy is engaged to her longtime boyfriend. Mia is a restaurant owner. Monic sings in a choir.

But when Sexbomb filmed their commercial for a streaming platform, no one was happier than them.

"Ang nakakatuwa dun 'yung inaayusan nila kami kasi magkakahiwalay kami ng dressing room. Tapos nu'ng nagkita-kita kami sa iisang room parang, 'Grabe para tayong nasa Eat Bulaga!'" Mia said. "Dun parang goosebumps no, tapos naririnig mo 'yung Spagheti.”

"Parang feeling namin bumalik kami sa pagiging 16 years old."

(“When they were getting us ready, we were placed in different dressing rooms. So when we saw each other again, it felt like we were back in Eat Bulaga! Then you’d hear ‘The Spaghetti Song’. It was very nostalgic.”)

(“It felt like we were 16 again.”)

The ladies are also gearing up for a concert in America, scheduled to take place in July.

Given their impact in Philippine showbiz, the iconic Sexbomb Girls will probably never be erased from Filipinos' consciousness.

"Hangga't may bata, may ispageting pababa," she said.

(“The Spaghetti Song will always be in every kid’s heart.”)

Of course, Sexbomb Girls’ special appearance on ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’ wouldn’t be complete without a dance number– this time, featuring Jessica Soho!

To their fans, Sexbomb Mia had this to say, “Sa mga fans na hanggang ngayon naniniwala pa rin at nag-aabang pa rin na magsama-sama kami na nandiyan, nanonood ‘pag alam nilang guest kami. Sobra pong maraming maraming salamat.”

(“To our fans who’ve always been with us, watching us, waiting for our comeback, thank you so much!”)