Mike Enriquez talks about past dreams of becoming a priest: 'I wouldn't mind up to now'

Did you know that Mike Enriquez used to want to be a priest?

In an interview on "Surprise Guest with Pia Arcangel," the GMA News pillar said he was inspired by his late father, who was a lay minister in their parish.

"Ang sabi niya, buhay ng tao parang circle ... sa umpisa malapit ka sa Diyos, habang umuusad ang buhay mo, lumalayo ka dito sa pinanggalingan mo, ngayon kapag tumatanda ka na, bumabalik ka ulit sa Diyos, sabi niya," he said.

"Ayun ang analogy niya sa buhay ng tao, kaya nung bata ako gusto ko maging pari. But actually ngayon kung tatanungin mo ako, I would not mind being a priest up to now," he added.

Mike said that he entered a seminary to follow this dream, and stayed there for half a year.

His shift to broadcasting happened by accident.

He recalled having a friend who was an announcer at Manila Broadcasting in Taft Avenue.

"One day tinawagan niya ako, sabi niya 'Hindi mo ba ako bibisitahin?' Sabi ko, 'Bakit may sakit ka ba?' Sabi niya 'Hindi, announcer na ako,'" Mike said.

He got the chance when his professor was absent one day so he visited his friend instead. When he got there, he found that they needed two announcers, but one was on leave and the other was suspended.

"Sabi nung classmate ko all of a sudden, sabi niya 'Mike is applying for a job,' sabi ko, 'Of course not.' 'Yeah, yeah, he is applying to be a announcer,' sabi nung kaibigan ko. Ito namang si manager, desperado rin magkaroon ng reliever, sabi niya, 'Oh why don't you try, nothing to lose,'" Mike recalled.

"E 19 years old diba, nothing to lose, full time student, sabi ko, 'What should I do?' Sabi niya, 'Read the newspaper.' Manila Bulletin dati 'yun e ... It was an item about the elections," he added.

Mike said he wasn't nervous because he didn't apply for the job, nor did he need it. He asked how he should read it, and he was told to read it anyway he wanted.

"Binasa ko, tapos at the end tinanong niya ako, 'When can you start?' Oh e syempre ako naman si loko, adventurous, curious, so sabi ko tomorrow," he said. "So the next day I was there 8:00 and then rest is, well, here we are."

This means that Mike has been in the business for over 50 years!

Mike just recently went back to work after undergoing a kidney transplant and isolating for three months. —JCB, GMA News