After her stint as a housemate in the reality show Pinoy Big Brother (PBB): All In last 2014, Kim Nichole Baranda appeared in a number of shows for ABS-CBN before veering away from the spotlight to focus on her collegiate education.
“Well, I had a choice between choosing showbiz or school, so I had to choose school first,” the social media influencer tells pikapika.ph. “I wasn’t really ready yet. Actually, I only became ready now that I’m 22 and it’s been how many years na since I was last on camera.”
And now that she is ready to go back in facing the camera, Kim joins her mother, model-turned-host Phoemela Baranda, as one of the members of Viva’s esteemed roster of talents as she recently signed a management contract for its talent agency last Wednesday, March 3.
With Kim planning to rise through the ranks of acting and dancing proteges, let us get to know her more as she re-enters the world of show business.
THE BIG REVELATION
Kim first entered into the public consciousness in 2013. In an interview for Buzz ng Bayan that same year, Phoemela made the revelation that she had a 15-year-old daughter whom she gave birth to when she was only 19 years old.
Phoemela told talk show hosts Boy Abunda, Janice De Belen, and Carmina Villarroel that upon finding out about her pregnancy with Kim, her entire family went to the United States during her fourth month of pregnancy.
After returning to the Philippines, Phoemela first introduced Kim to her circle as her niece before re-introducing herself to her as her sister later on.
Such a move was to make the complicated matters simpler. Phoemela, at that time, was at the peak of her hosting and modeling career and she had contracts that would put her in trouble. Moreover, she was, admittedly, not ready with maternal responsibilities yet. She made it clear though that abortion never became an option. Thus, keeping things a secret was her best option then.
“I looked at it [from] a different perspective,” Kim said during the revelation on Buzz ng Bayan. “I know naman that they did it for a reason. I think I’m kind of mature enough to handle it. Growing up, I was raised to be strong.”
During an interview with pikapika.ph after her contract signing for the Viva Artists Agency, Kim would open more about her childhood growing up with her mother Phoemela, whom she knew then as her sister.
“It was confusing kasi sometimes sister, sometimes [I’d call her] tita,” she says. “So, until I was like 11, I would call her Tita Phoem...Cause I had a lot of cousins who would call her Tita Phoem, si Tita Phoem na rin ako...”
However, she said she had this indescribable instinct that the woman introducing herself as her sister is her own mother. Moreover, since she was surrounded by adults who would talk about the rumors, she kind of got some inkling.
It was only when Kim turned 11 when she was sat down by Phoemela and was told the truth about who she really was.
“Actually, wala [akong reaction noong sinabi niya]. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t confused, I just accepted it as ‘Okay. So, this is our new normal now,’” she recounts. “The hardest part for me was calling her from Tita Phoem to mom. That was the only hard part from that but other than that, wala.”
However, Kim said Phoemela would always be there for her, especially when her grandparents passed away.
“Throughout the years when my lolas weren’t here, she was always there for me,” she says. “Feeling ko parang experimental stage na how to be a mom so it was okay naman and I really felt na she wanted to make bawi all the lost time.”
As Phoemela would break through the experimental stage, as Kim would call it, she would cling to her daughter even more, especially when she entered high school.
“High school, siya na ’yong laging nangungulit and, then, she was so strict,” she shares.
However, it was during her high school days, there came a time where Kim had a rebellious stage, opting to be with friends rather than her mother. Yet, this did not stop Phoemela from teaching her discipline.
“That’s just how life is. When you don’t understand things, you focus on what you wanna do,” she recalls. “But, yeah. My mom was super, always 24/7 there to discipline me and guide me.”
MEETING HER DAD
Kim grew up without a father figure. It may be recalled that during that Buzz ng Bayan interview, Phoemela also revealed that her late mom did not approve of Kim’s dad and since they were hiding the truth about Kim at that time, they also tried cutting ties with the father of the child.
But Kim says his dad knew about her existence and she knew of his. But she wasn’t ready to meet him yet.
“I wasn’t ready that time, I was super young at that time,” she says of discovering about her father initially.
It was only two years ago when she felt the desire
to meet her father.
“Actually, we’ve been finding, like, a connection with my dad before pa, when I turned 18 or 19, but we couldn’t find my dad so noong 2019, one of my mom’s friends had a connection and, then, we sort of scheduled for a meet-up. Then, I met my dad’s side na,” she explains, adding with a laugh that her dad’s side of the family is one big clan.
“There a lot in my dad’s side. Some of my cousins there pa were my friends and I didn’t know they were my cousins so it was a lot to take in,” she admits. “But, we got closer din.”
Although she found their first encounter awkward, Kim got closer with her father soon after and saw her life slowly becoming complete.
“Before, I would only celebrate my birthday or Christmas with my mom’s side ta’s now, I have to celebrate din with my dad’s side so it’s fun,” she says.
BEING AN ATE
Now, Kim is preparing for her new role as an ate as her mother Phoemela has just given birth to another baby girl. She announced her pregnancy through an exclusive interview with Preview in November last year.
“Twenty two years of being an only child and, then, there’s gonna be a baby. I’m not really close pa naman with babies,” Kim says honestly. “Kasi in my mom’s side of the family, I’m the baby, I’m the bunso, I’m the spoiled one,” she laughs.
“I was kind of hoping for a boy para ako pa rin ’yong princess,” she adds in jest.
However, Kim said she is not worried at all about her mother giving birth at 40, as she said she does not even look her age.
“My mom...it’s not like her body looks like it’s 40-years-old. We can pass as sisters, so I think it’s gonna be fine,” she says.
When asked about her mother possibly being married to her partner Jason Choachuy, Kim said she is ready to embrace that and would simply go to where her mom is happy.
“Yeah, wherever my mom is happy. I’m 100% supportive of it,” she says.
RE-ENTERING A FAMILIAR WORLD
After being revealed as the daughter of Phoemela Baranda in 2013, Kim joined the reality show PBB: All In a year later where she became a housemate for 64 days before being evicted.
After appearing in a number of Kapamilya shows, she decided to leave show business early to pursue a degree in Industrial Design at the De La Salle College of St. Benilde. However, at present time, she plans to shift to Marketing so she can market her own designs.
She plans on continuing on with a career in design, focusing on furniture and sneakers. But she needs to balance it now with her showbiz commitments.
“I was in [showbiz] before. I know the things I didn’t like before and then, I wasn’t ready. I needed to mentally prepare myself for it again, so I think I know what I’m getting into again,” she says.
Kim revealed the reasons behind her return to show business. Apart from being urged by her mom, she saw content creators from video-sharing platform TikTok creatively pursuing their craft. For her, she missed expressing herself in the art that she loves.
“It started on TikTok where everyone is, like, expressing their talent, their art,” she says. “I miss it.”
She also saw footage of herself on television when PBB had a Balik-Bahay segment wherein they showed past scenes from different seasons.
“I was watching myself and I was thinking ‘I could do so much better than that.’ [And] I feel like I wanna redeem myself,” she says.
And, indeed, she will as she is ready to fly high under Viva. Good luck, Kim!
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