he busy beauty reveals what is' like to trek four hours up a volcano, eat lunch on top of a billboard ninety feet high, and hold hands with Paolo Bediones thirty feet under water.

Happy people eat. And to watch Phoemela Baranda eat should make people happy. There's no grazing on sad lettuce leaves for primetime's newest celebrity. "If I'm hungry, I'll eat," she says devouring her breakfast during the early morning interview. In her black tank top with a peek-a-boo hole on the side, it's hard to imagine where she packs it all in. Tall and model thin, Phoemela puts her hand into the hole to scratch her stomach and rub her middle. "Yummy! Breakfast!" She says, smiling happily.

The pretty, new host of GMA-7's Extra Challenge has had to eat in some odd places. During the show's "Kapalit" series wherein she had to compete with four other top hosting slot recently vacated by Miriam Quiambao, she (along with other challengers) had to unveil their billboard on Edsa to promote the show. "We had to go up, release the billboard, and stay there for three hours and then rappel going down. We had lunch sa taas na. Wala akong pakialam. Kain ako." She asked the harness guide to hoist her up even futher, so she could perch on top of the billboard. "Kain kaming dalawa doon. I could see everyone pero 'yung point of reference ko talaga sa mga tao was so small.

With a cheerful disposition and a booming career on television, it looks like Phoemela Baranda on top of her game.

Getting Warmed Up
Phoemela had already made a name for herself for the past several years as one of the country's top commercial models-people may remember her as the passionate young woman in black doing the temptestuous tango in Nizoral's television ads; or as gorgeous and fit woman joyfully espousing the values of eating right in Century Tuna. She had also graced the cover of Cosmo in June 2000. Life was good for the young model, but she eventually came to a stage in her life when she wanted to do something else. "I felt I had done my part in modeling," Phoemela shares. It came to a point where she felt that she had done every possible commercial, cover or endorsement conceivable. It was time to make some changes.

She finished her schooling in 2001 and between her modeling and commercial shoots both here and abroad, she managed to squeeze in time for her education. It definitely wasn't easy, but the model takes it all in stride. "I'm thankful because the blessing the Lord has given me, talagang continous." By mid-2001, she landed a guest role in the now-defunct television soap opera Pangako Sa'Yo, as well as a supporting role in the movie Cool Dudes 24/7 with Cogie Domingo and Danilo Barrios. Her career was marked by both highs and lows. "I was really busy and then nag-peak 'yung career ko. After, it was really calm. Eh me, I really want new challenges every time. I was so bored already. Ayan! Dumating nga! Sobra naman!"

It took her five years to get her degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from La Salle. "My dad's request was that I finish school… when I graduated, my dad was there, my mom and my boyfriend at that time. I was so happy. After a month, my dad passed away [due to a stroke]." Her eyes start to water and Phoemlea shakes her heard, a signal to change the subject.

Getting Set, Getting Ready
With one foot gingerly stepping into showbiz waters, Phoemela was ready for her next big break. With patience and timing, it came. In late 2003, GMA 7 announced that it would launch a contest a la Fear Factor, in its search for a new female host to replace Extra Challenge's Miriam Quiambao. Phoemela was ready to go.

When she auditioned, they asked her if she was willing to go through challenges and dares designed to test the competitor's nerves. Phoemela was hesitant at first. "Baka pagbalik ko, pilay na 'ko! Inisip ko, 'Cand I do this?' I realized that the mere fact that I was thinking about it meant that I liked it, that I would regret if I didn't try."

From the initial casting, the channel had narrowed their choices down to give finalist: former beauty queen Joanna Peñalosa; cable host Reema Chanco; former beauty queen and host Josephine Canonizado; sexy comedienne Ethel Booba; and Phoemela. The producers of the show scheduled three days for the challenge, and they weren't giving any Phoemela was ready, albeit filled with nervous excitement: She told herself: "If I'm going to do this, I might as well do everything!"

Playing the Game
Phoemela knows there was a lot who wanted the job but credits having a good attitude and keeping an eye on the prize for her success. She was on of the few who managed to finish all the challenges. She paid attention to the "small things that matter to the people that will be working with you." During the early morning call times, she would show up on time, "even though I knew everyone would be late. I wanted to be on time so I could take advantage of the free breakfast." She laughs at her katakawan. "So I could started a head na rin. Those small things could give me an edge."

It might have been an aggressive competition but she says that she and all the other contestants "supported each other," while keeping in mind that they were competing against one other. "I had to be professional because I knew the people around me were watching. But I also focused on having fun kasi doing the challenges was hard, tapos mag-iinarte pa ba ako? It's a reality show so you can't just wait for the host para matapos mag-makeup."

The challenges went beyond tests of physical endurance and strength. Several situations were also set up by the producers of the show to see how each contestant would handle themselves emotionally during times of stress.

The contestants were given six challenges. All the physical challenges were done together, but the "emotional" challenges differed for each finalist-ranging from interviewing men who were in the middle of the fight, to interviewing a possessed woman. In Phoemela's case, and to her dismay, she had to appear as a baduy videoke model dressed in gaudy clothes and thick, tacky outdated 80's makeup. "I wanted to cry," she recalls. She would gladly have traded places with her competitors. "Kasi 'di ba as a model you have to be very careful about your "glamorous" image, so I used to turn down videoke jobs, tapos, doon din pala mauuwi!" she now laughs. "Then they paired me with a not-so-attractive guy," she recalls. "I had to be sweetie-sweetie with him. Sabi ko, 'Oh My God! Are they going to show this nationwide?"

Win or lose, Phoemela says, the experience was worth it. "Of course I wanted to win, but even if I didn't, I was [happy just being] able to experience all those things. Kung ako lang, I would even have gone rappelling down ninety feet just for fun. It really made me a better person because I proved to myself that I could do those things."

So which challenge did Phoemela enjoy the most? Hands down, she says it would have to be the four-hour trek down Pinatubo, where after being covered in ash, she discovered that she still had to interview the Aetas. It was a fascinating moment for the successful model-having spent the most of her professional life preening and posing for the camera, conversing and laughing with the Aetas "was a different fulfillment especially as a host, the fat that you were able to interact with them.

The Fear, and Fun, Factor
Oddly enough, her most difficult challenged happened when she was getting settled as the new host of Extra Challenge: Confronting her hydrophobia during the "Paolo and Phoemela" challenge in Boracay. "They asked me to dive and it was my first time to really go into the open water na ganun kalalim," shares Phoemela. "I was really shaking and turning pale. Then Paolo said, 'O, kaya ni Phoem mag-dive. Huwag kayong maingay.' So I said, 'You told me kaya ko 'toand you will guide me, so I'll trust you.'"

She continues: "When I was underwater, it wasn't that scary naman pala. After that, kaya ko na. And sarap ng feeling kasi you feel confident. I felt stronger afterwards. When you're there, you feel that you can do anything."

Holding hands Paolo Bediones must have boosted her confidence a lot. "Paolo helps and guides me. And he has faith in me. I saw it in Boracay. So all the time we were diving, were holding hands. Ay!" She giggles. "So lumayas we were really sweet tuloy. Pero he was really just guiding me."

Glam On-Cam
Phoemela world has certainly changed from strutting down the catwalk to pounding the pavement as Extra Challenge's newest host. The statuesque model-turned-TV host is actually the third woman to be partnered with Paolo (Karen Davila, followed by Miriam Quiambao). Naturally, she feels the pressure to live up to her predecessors. But she is also intent on making he own mark and building her own identity in the show.

"When I joined, there was already a format for the show. So the way Paolo delivers his lines is the same as when he was partnered with Miriam. Paolo and I try to meet halfway. He'll say, 'I'll tone down a bit and then you go one level higher.' I'm really not used to speaking in modeling. But I try to bring whatever I've learned from modeling to the job, like the way I dress." She laughs at herself again. "So we're going to take it was a positive thing and it will be my quirk, like 'ano kaya ang susuotin ni Phoem the next day?" At the end of the day, it's all about compromise and keeping up with the pros. She too is studying and trying to learn to do what the show needs her to do. She studies Tagalog newspapers so she can widen her vocabulary and communicate better with the people she interviews.

It's a big job, but she's ready to take it on-she wants to tell the world about it. "Especially the women, she says. "One thing I want to say is, you have to know how to be happy with yourself. Have you own identity. Do things on your own. Be confident. Believe in yourself. Before you can help other people, help yourself first. Know what's inside you. Know your worth. Once you lose confidence in yourself, you lose everything. Your state of mind will be 'Ay, I can't do this."

So how does one become as confident as Phoemala? "Always, always challenge yourself. Of course the fear will always be there, but try not to let it overcome you. You should instead overcome your fear…by joining Extra Challenge!" She laughs at her blatant promotion and adds, "Go out into the world! Go girls! Kaya n'yo 'yan!"

On Life's Anxieties
"I feel like there are angels guiding me. That's what my mom taught me. So I always pray. There are times talaga that you can't depend on anyone. You can't call your mom or anyone and say, 'takot na takot na 'ko dito sa taas' and you're up ninety feet below under water! Siguro may kasama ka pero 'yung mga kasama mo naman, takot din. So I always prayed. Nakikita mo, nagsa-sign of the cross pa ako bago mag-dive."

On her Fasyon Factor
"Comparison can't be helped but I think my thing will be to Patawa Phoem. Laging bloopers kasi ako sa challenges. But I'm really having so much fun. And of course, I want to be fashionable pa rin. 'Di ako puwedeng mag-challenge, tapos naka-rubber shoes. Sorry!"

On Dating
Phoemela's hectic taping schedule eats up all her time-the reason why her last relationship (she was rumored to be dating the son of a mayor/comedian) eventually didn't work. "Every week, I'm out of town. You have to se aside your personal life if you really want to have a showbiz career. Siguro God gave me this work because he knows that I'm ready. I was also tired from my last boyfriend…"

On Why She Loves Extra Challenge:
"Aside from entertainment, which is our show's basic motive, we want to inspire people to go out and do things beyond their daily routine. Overcoming your fear makes you grow stronger and more confident. And showing real people or celebrities overcoming their fears inspires viewers to try to do new things too." - -