Iya Villania

Iya Villania
Born	Raelene Elaine Ebaler Villania-Arellano (1986-06-29) June 29, 1986 Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality	Filipino Australian
Occupation	Actress, host, model, singer
Years active	2002–present
Spouse(s)	Drew Arellano (m. 2014)

Raelene Elaine "Iya" Ebaler Villania-Arellano (born 29 June 1986 in Camperdown, Australia), better known as Iya Villania, is an Australian-Filipino television presenter and actress.^[1] She has been widely known for her work as a VJ in the music channel MYX.

Early life

Villania was born in Camperdown, Australia, but was raised in Sydney. Her parents, Ray and Elena Villania, are of Filipino descent. The youngest of three siblings, she has two older sisters named Rhoda and Sheila. Villania's interest in music started when her father sang karaoke when she was a child. As a teenager, she returned to the Philippines and went to high school in Colegio San Agustin in Makati, graduating in March 2004. She went to college in De La Salle University-Manila majoring in psychology and graduated February 2009. On January 31, 2014, she married her boyfriend of 10 years, Drew Arellano, in Meditation Point, Kawayan Cove, Nasugbu, Batangas.

Career

Beginnings in GAME CHANNEL and GMA-7

Villania's first television appearance in the Philippines was in 2003 on the IBC interactive program "Game Channel." After she gained a "cult" following, the management team of GMA Network took notice and cast her in the daytime drama Walang Hanggan. She then played the role of Sydney Torres in the third and fourth seasons of the iconic teen series Click.

Move to ABS-CBN and MYX VJ career

In 2004, she moved to GMA's rival network ABS-CBN and was announced as one of the new VJ's for their subsidiary music channel MYX. She would remain in the job for 10 years. Subsequently, she was regularly featured in the variety show ASAP. Villania's feature film debut was in the 2004 drama "A Beautiful Life" alongside acclaimed actresses Gloria Romero, Dina Bonnevie and Amy Austria. In the same year, Villania appeared in the critically acclaimed historical film Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. Her run as host on ABS-CBN included briefly co-hosting the noontime game show Wowowee in 2005, the two seasons of the reality dance competition show U Can Dance in 2006 and 2007, the reality show I Dare You in 2011 and her two-year stint on ABS-CBN's morning show Umagang Kay Ganda. Villania also hosted the Studio 23 lifestyle program Us Girls from 2006 to 2012.

Return to GMA-7 and present career

After finishing her supporting stint in the short-lived primetime series "Apoy sa Dagat", Villania took the rest of 2013 as a break. In early 2014, she announced her return to GMA Network and then appeared on the weekend musical variety show Sunday All Stars. She was initially rumored to have been considered to be the new host for the reality talent competition StarStruck but these reports were proven false when Megan Young was announced by the network to be the new host. On June 11, 2015, the top-rating nightly news program 24 Oras announced that Villania is taking over the showbiz anchor slot taking over for the show's entertainment correspondent of 11 years Pia Guanio.

Filmography

Television

Films

Music videos

Endorsements

References