Original Eat Bulaga hosts Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon, along with the other “Dabarkads,” are officially moving to the Kapatid network.
Mediaquest Group revealed on Wednesday that the iconic trio and their fellow hosts have signed a deal “to produce content for TV5 and other Mediaquest platforms”.
“I’m happy that Tito, Vic, and Joey will now call TV5 their home,” Mediaquest president and CEO Jane Basas said in a press statement.
“I’m honored that these pillars of the Philippine entertainment industry have agreed to work with us.
“Our partnership strengthens our ability to continue to deliver the best for Filipino viewers here at home and all over the world,” she added.
Former senator Tito Sotto, meanwhile, was quoted as saying: “We are thankful to our friends at Mediaquest for this fresh start.
He added, “Dahil sa ating mga Dabarkads na naging Kapatid, tuloy pa rin ang tuwa’t saya na aming dala.”
The move comes a week after Tito, Vic, and Joey stunned the local TV scene with the abrupt announcement of their departure from TAPE, Inc. after almost 44 years.
Fellow Dabarkads and staff of Eat Bulaga followed suit in cutting ties with the producer company.
TAPE, Inc., responded to their exit with an official statement saying, “Ang pagalis ng host ay hindi dahilan para tumigil ang ikot ng mundo,” and that their departure was “unfortunate, but life must go on.”
On the other hand, GMA network, which served as Eat Bulaga’s “home” for 28 years, said that they were saddened by the turn events, revealing: “We still have a block time agreement with TAPE until the end of 2024 for the noontime slot.”
After airing reruns for the past days, Eat Bulaga went live again on Monday, June 5, introducing aolo Contis, Betong Sumaya, Buboy Villar, Alexa Miro, and twins Mavy and Cassy Legaspi as the replacements for TVJ and other hosts.
