BY ALEXA BASA
Comedienne Herlene “Hipon Girl” Budol admitted she thought her television hosting stint would be the start of having a good life. It was not.
In a sit-down interview with Toni Gonzaga, Herlene said she suffered financial loss amid the pandemic, causing her to experience anxiety.
“Umiiyak ako araw-araw. Dumating ako sa puntong parang ayoko na, ayoko ng magpakita sa pamilya ko kasi nahihiya ako. Back to zero kami,” she said on Toni Talks, Toni’s YouTube series, on July 25.
Herlene first appeared on TV in 2019 when she joined Wowowin’s Willie of Fortune segment, hosted by Willie Revillame. Later on, she became one of the hosts of the variety game show.
She also appeared in some television series on GMA Network.
As the breadwinner, the comedienne said that many of her family members rely on her. “Kasi sa akin lahat umaasa talaga ‘yung pamilya ko. Dati pagkain lang, ngayon pati kuryente sa akin na,” she said.
She revealed her savings only amounted to P100,000, which was all spent to support her family. She added that she could not even buy vitamins for her grandparents.
“‘Yung mama ko minsanan lang ako magbigay doon — sa lolo’t lola ko po, ‘yung mga gamot nila, wala vitamins nga ngayon lolo (Oreng) ko tsaka ‘yung lola (Bireng) ko, mahal kasi,” she said.
Herlene said she felt bad for the people sending messages to her Facebook account to ask for help. She tends to ignore them because she could not give them anything as well since she is also suffering from financial loss.
“Nahihiya nga po ako ‘pag may nanghihingi ng tulong, wala akong mabigay kasi wala rin po ako. ‘Di ko masabi sa kanila na ‘ako nga walang nabibili para sa sarili ko,’” she said.
Herlene also admitted she was complacent that she would have projects after her Wowowin stint.
“Naging kampante rin po ako na akala ko may pagkukunan pa ako pagkatapos nitong Wowowin, wala po talaga,” she said.
“Totoo ‘yung sinasabi, hindi habambuhay ‘yung sa TV ka. Dalawang taon palang ako, wala na kaagad. Ang hirap doon umasa,” she added.
As of writing, the video is now the No. 1 over 2,700,000 views on YouTube. Watch the full video below:
