Ralph de Leon: From Control to Clarity

“I did hide my anger,” Ralph de Leon admits candidly. “I really didn’t understand why I was nominated again, especially after having such a good week. I was even beginning to feel that someone hated me and wanted me out of the house.”

Borgy Angeles

As he waits patiently for his turn to get camera-ready for Allure Philippines, Ralph de Leon is telling us about the lowest point he hit inside Bahay ni Kuya. That moment came after his fourth nomination, about a week before he got evicted for the first time, and he dealt with his frustration by talking about it with those closest to him inside the house—“Will, River, and AZ,” he says.

Following his return via wildcard, de Leon immediately buckled down to business, bent on figuring out how to make the Big Four. “It was our last chance to get into the Big Four. We had to secure it right away,” he recalls of the subsequent First Big Jump Challenge, where he and Will Ashley teamed up to transfer wooden blocks across a platform, and then solve a puzzle. “True enough,” he shares, “we were able to do it.”

It’s an obvious single-minded focus on display here, that if anything, provides a glimpse into the model and actor’s resolute character and competitive spirit, both of which have been unmistakably shaped by years as a student-athlete. 

When you’re juggling schooling with competitive sports, life can be a pressure cooker. And when you start competing in judo in your elementary years, and wind up the captain of the judo team at the Ateneo de Manila University, while earning a management engineering degree, you learn how to perform even in the most tenuous circumstances.

But tunnel vision and laser focus didn’t prepare him for the overwhelming onslaught of attention and noise that was waiting for him upon exiting the house for good. “In the house, it was so quiet, and we didn’t know anything about the outside world,” de Leon explains. “When we went out, what really messed with me was the amount of people that watched us, supported us, bashed us even. It was overwhelming, and I really had to adjust to it.”

So in the quest to keep his peace, de Leon has had to remember another lesson from his years as a judoka: the importance of balance, which is really how he has come to define his own personal wellness and overall health. “As an athlete, your physical strength has to be up there. Your mental fortitude when it comes to the competitions, to the fights, to the training has to be up there also. It’s really a balance of everything,” he says. He opens up further, explaining that his life post-PBB has taken a complete 180-degree turn. “With all the [showbiz] opportunities coming in now, I haven’t really had the time to just reflect on everything, by myself—to be able to find the balance of how to prioritize work without neglecting my mental and physical wellness. That’s where I’m at now.”

Balance, it seems, is of extreme importance to de Leon. “Yes, one hundred percent,” he says in response, when we point this out. “My whole life has been about trying to balance everything—my sport, my academics, my friends and family.”

It’s a dance to which de Leon is still re-learning the steps to, having been thrown off count by his time inside Bahay ni Kuya. Ever aware of his body, he tells us about watching his own physical changes during his time inside the house, with his muscle mass and cheeks shrinking over the months, eyes becoming swollen, the proof laid out in a board of photos they were shown documenting their tasks from Day One. “We were like, ‘What happened to us?’” he chuckles, stressing that wellness and mental health has been an ongoing priority for all the housemates since the show ended.

Borgy Angeles

The changes wrought have, evidently, not only been physical. His time inside has taught, or underscored, other things. “I’ve always come from a place of gratefulness all throughout my career in judo and athletics,” he muses. Now, however, after being stripped of valuables, loved ones, and modern conveniences inside the house, gratitude takes on a different light for de Leon, having had to “make the most of just what we had inside.” Patience and the value of time are other lessons learned, drilled deep into him by days that seemed to stand still and stretch on endlessly.

The dance, the balance, that de Leon says he is relearning, it seems, is not the old two-step from his old life. It’s a completely different rhythm now. And de Leon, ever ready for any challenge, is anchoring himself on his own two feet, ready for the match of a lifetime.

Production design: Justine Arcega-Bumanlag
Photographer’s assistants: Rojan Maguyon and Pao Mendoza
Grooming: Mickey See 
Hair: Bryan Eusebio 
Styling: Joy Bernardo and Jolo Bayoneta of StyLIZed Studio, assisted by Jethro Barrietta, Ayi Custodio , Ashley Jamlang, Beatrize Lagco, and Stephanie Satorre
Art direction: Nicole Almero
Beauty direction: Trina Epilepsia Boutain
Writers: Leira Aquino and Lia Cruz
Special thanks to Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition and Star Magic