Kenneth Earl Gesulga Medrano, known simply as Kenneth Medrano, is a Filipino television host, dancer, model, and actor. He served as a member of Eat Bulaga!'s all-male resident dance group That's My Bae from 2015 to 2019.
The Cebu-native first came into public eye when he posted a Dubsmash video of him shirtless while lip-synching to the 2014 song "Twerk It Like Miley". With this newfound Internet fame, Kenneth earned the title as the country's "Dubsmash King". After receiving a call from Eat Bulaga! to audition for its new contest, Kenneth accepted.
Kenneth joined That's My Bae: "Twerk It" Dance Contest as a daily round contestant on 11 July 2015. After sailing through the elimination rounds, he was declared as the grand winner of the competition.
The seven grand finalists continued to regularly appear and perform together on Eat Bulaga!, appearing in segments such as ATM with the Baes and Hotline Bae. During their time as resident dancers on Eat Bulaga!, the seven grand finalists gradually became an official dance group which became known as That's My Bae.
Kenneth was 24 years old at the time he joined the noontime show.
Early life[]
Kenneth Medrano's family
Kenneth Earl Gesulga Medrano was born and raised in Cebu City, Philippines to Jesus Glend Medrano and Anna Nimfa Gesulga. His mother is a government employee who works at AFP Central Command, while his father is a retired navy and a teacher. He is the third child of four brothers, namely Adriane Glen, Jerrick Karl and Leuvick Jann.
Kenneth Medrano before showbiz
He finished his elementary education at Colegio de la Immaculada Concepcion. Kenneth then completed his secondary education at the University of Southern Philippines Foundation in Lahug, Cebu City. At the same university, he took up a Bachelor of Science
degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management but dropped out after his third year to pursue a career in the showbiz industry.
In a 2017 interview with Yes! Magazine, Kenneth was not ashamed to admit that he spent his childhood living in the slums. "Tumira kami sa squatter [area]", says Kenneth. "Ako naman po 'yung normal na bata na naglalaro do'n sa kalsada. Parang lahat na yata ng larong pambata, nagawa ko na po".
Prior to Eat Bulaga![]
Humble bae-ginnings[]
Growing up, Kenneth dreamed of becoming an artista. He joined contests and male pageants and took on hosting stints for events and local shows. In 2009, Kenneth tried to audition for the season 5 of reality talent search StarStruck on GMA Network, but unfortunately didn't make the cut.
Kenneth became a local talent of GMA-7 Cebu, appearing in a locally-produced variety program called Oi! Show Nato Ni!. At the same time, he became a professional model for VAMP, a Cebu-based talent model agency. He also modeled for various local clothing lines in Cebu City.
He also worked at a café named Coffee Prince Cebu as a barista. He also became a ballroom dance instructor after his hosting stint in local television.
Becoming the Dubsmash King[]
The video that started it all
One night at home, Kenneth recorded a Dubsmash video of himself shirtless while moving to Brandon Beal's 2014 hit "Twerk It Like Miley". On 7 April 2015, he posted the video on his Facebook and Instagram accounts out of boredom. Immediately, his video became viral on social media, earning hundreds of thousands of views on both platforms.
As a result, Kenneth began a viral trend of good-looking Filipino men and women doing the same Dubsmash concept, including Filipino celebrities such as Teejay Marquez, Mark Herras, Ruru Madrid, and Jake Vargas. Netizens began to compile the "Twerk It Like Miley" Dubsmash videos and posted them on YouTube and Facebook. A couple of compilation videos received more than a million views, which included Kenneth's original video.
As the original poster, Kenneth was dubbed as the country's "Dubsmash King". Kenneth followed his fame with other Dubsmash videos, which were widely viewed as well. The trend became so huge that Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho featured Kenneth Medrano and the "Twerk It Like Miley" Dubsmash trend on 14 June 2015. At that point, his Dubsmash had more than half a million video views. In an interview with the show, Kenneth revealed that the video was only meant to cheer up his pregnant girlfriend, but he was not expecting it to be shared all over social media.
The road to Eat Bulaga![]
Dubsmashers audition for Eat Bulaga!.
An Eat Bulaga! staff contacted Kenneth Medrano and other Dubsmashers to audition for the noontime show. The longest-running noontime variety show was looking for its next big discovery from a pool of social media personalities.
Kenneth auditioned on Eat Bulaga! on 19 June 2015. Among the auditionees were fellow "Twerk It Like Miley" Dubsmasher Jay Arcilla and Kris Aquno impersonators Aina Mayella Amarante and Maine Mendoza. Although the position was ultimately given to Maine Mendoza, Kenneth received another call from the noontime show to audition for its new segment, That's My Bae: "Twerk It" Dance Contest, which featured good-looking men with dancing skills. The segment was strongly inspired from the viral Dubsmash trend which Kenneth started. After receiving the call, Kenneth traveled to Manila to audition. Fortunately, he passed the screening.
As an Eat Bulaga! Dabarkads[]
Becoming the Ultimate Bae[]
Kenneth Medrano victory featured on GMA Network's evening news 24 Oras
On 11 July 2015, Kenneth Medrano appeared on national television as a contestant of That's My Bae: "Twerk It" Dance Contest. As part of the contest, the contestants danced to the Brandon Beal's 2014 hit single "Twerk It Like Miley" while showcasing their talent and looks. Kenneth was 24 years old at the time he joined the noontime show.
He was pitted against Angelo Nabor and won. After sailing through the eliminations, Kenneth became one of the competition's grand finalists. The seven grand finalists were Gab Bayan, Kim Last, Kenneth Medrano, Joel Palencia, Tommy Peñaflor, Jon Timmons, and Miggy Tolentino. The grand finals of the dance contest was held on 29 August 2015. In the end, Kenneth emerged as the grand winner of the competition, receiving ₱250,000 as the grand prize. Kenneth also won the Dabarkads Choice Award after receiving the most likes in an online voting on the show's Facebook page.
As a member of That's My Bae[]
That's My Bae
Subsequently, Joel and the six other grand finalists made regular appearances on Eat Bulaga! as a dance group. Originally, they were simply referred to as That's My Bae grand finalists. Eventually, the group's name officially as That's My Bae, and each member is referred to as a Bae. To further give them exposure, That's My Bae was given its own segment entitled ATM with the Baes. At that point, they were considered as a resident dance group of the noontime variety show.
The dance crew was still composed of seven people until the quiet departure of Gab Bayan in December 2015. Since then, That's My Bae has been a six-member group.
The members of That's My Bae began appearing in other segments of Eat Bulaga!, including Hotline Bae, Dancing in Tandem, and Kalyeserye. Soon, each of them was included in the annual Eat Bulaga's Lenten Special.
As a Dabarkads[]
Kenneth and Jose as Team Labada
In November 2016, the members of That's My Bae battled against one another in the "Mr. Diva" challenge of the segment Challenge Accepted, which required the baes to wear heels while dancing. Kenneth was paired with Miggy Tolentino. Unfortunately, the tandems of Miggy-Kenneth and Jon-Kim lost against Joel Palencia and Tommy Peñaflor
In 2017, Kenneth Medrano participated in the segment #Dabarkads Goals: The Ultimate Battle as part of the noontime show's 38th anniversary celebration. He was paired with co-host Jose Manalo and was accompanied by the dance crew FOS 417; their group was dubbed as Team Labada. Together, the team danced to the songs "Lambada" (from Eat Bulaga!'s 1990 segment Lambada Dance Contest). The group won the daily round against Ruby Rodriguez and Jon Timmons' Team Bang. Unfortunately, they lost against Team Jupiter (Baste and Kim Last) and Team Ramen (Ryan Agoncillo and Maine Mendoza) in the weekly finals.
On 15 July 2018, Kenneth's clan was invited to perform in Broadway Singer Citizens: Celebrity Edition. They won against Joel Palencia and his family.
Beyond Eat Bulaga![]
Showbiz career[]
Kenneth and Kylie in Buena Familia (2015)
After winning That's My Bae: Twerk It Dance Contest, Kenneth underwent a series of acting workshops with actress Ana Feleo. His acting debut was in the 2015 afternoon drama series Buena Familia where he portrayed Pacoy Alvero, one-third of a love triangle between Kylie Padilla and Martin del Rosario. Kylie Padilla and Kenneth Medrano were subsequently paired in the episode "Langit at Lupa" of Wagas, a drama anthology on GMA News TV.
Other television roles and minor appearances include Ismol Family, The Half Sisters, Alisto!, and Sunday PinaSaya. To further his acting career, Kenneth appeared in various anthology series, including in the "Love Knows No Age" (2017) and "Reyna ng Tubig" (2017) episodes of Magpakailanman, the "Sundo" (2017) episode of Tadhana, and the "Torn Between Beshies" (2017) episode of Dear Uge. In 2016, Kenneth was included in the cast of the pre-noontime drama series titled Calle Siete, in which he portrayed the role of Jonas Delloso. Other cast members include Ryzza Mae Dizon, Eula Valdez, Christian Vazquez, Taki Saito, and Patricia Tumulak.
That's My Bae with Taki Saito in Trops (2016)
The members of That's My Bae also had a group cameo appearance in Vic Sotto's 2015 MMFF film entry My Bebe Love: #KiligPaMore.
Together, the six baes were finally given their own television show entitled Trops, a dramedy-romance series that aimed to delve into various issues concerning today's generation-- peer pressure, friendship, rivalry, generation gap, and more. The pre-noontime series is the debut lead acting role of the group. They were joined by Benjie Paras, Irma Adlawan, Ina Raymundo, Krystal Reyes, Shaira Mae Dela Cruz, Toni Aquino, and Taki Saito. The show ran for almost a year from October 2016 to September 2017. Kenneth played the role of a lovesick emo named Kenneth Mercado, who is part of a love triangle between Taki Saito and Miggy Tolentino.
A party with the baes[]
That's My Bae was scheduled to have its first ever solo concert on 16 December 2016 at SM City North EDSA Skydome. However, the concert was cancelled after one of the major performers sustained an injury days before the show. The concert was rescheduled on 24 March 2017 and is titled #TropsGoals: Party with the Baes.
Special guests included Jireh Lim, Toni Aquino, Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, Alden Richards, and Maine Mendoza.
Personal life and trivia[]
- His original showbiz crush is Jennylyn Mercado. His new crush is Bianca Umali after she guested in the segment Jackpot En Poy on Eat Bulaga!.
- His height is 5'7''.
Segments[]
Eat Bulaga's Lenten Special[]
| Year | Episode | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | "Walang Kapalit" | Carlo |
| 2017 | "Pagpapatawad" | Carlo Dela Rosa |
| 2018 | "My Carinderia Girl" | Alfred |
Notable roles within Eat Bulaga![]
| Year | Segment | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Kalyeserye | Pepito |