Richard is currently seen regularly only in "It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez", how come he chose a hosting job and not an acting one for his solo comeback on TV? "I've been acting for 12 years doing movies and teleseryes non-stop," he says. "Na-burn out din ako and now, I'm enjoying most of my time being with Sarah (Lahbati) and our son, Zion. He just turned two at sobrang nakakatuwa siya kasi nagsasalita na. He just started going to school and I'm so happy to spend a lot of time with him and to see him growing up. That's why I preferred to do hosting muna as it'll not take too much of my time, unlike a soap na magdamagan ang taping. It's good I was able to save a lot and put up my own businesses while I was busy acting, so now I can afford to choose the work I do. Also, I'm excited to do 'KisPinoy' as I haven't hosted a reality talent search like this before. I actually can't wait for it to start as it will help find the next K-POP icon who will be launched not only here but also in Korea. It's a great opportunity for me as the show will also give me the chance to go to Korea, where I haven't been to so far. This is in line with the global thrust of 'It Take Gutz', which is being shown in various Asian countries now, except Korea. 'KisPinoy' will be shown not only in our country but also in Korea, with NH Media as its partner. It will be aired with subtitles, so mapapanood na rin nila ako roon. Before I accepted this, I researched on K-Pop and it's really a worldwide phenomenon. It's big not only in Asia but also in the Europe and the U.S. Sobrang dami ng fans nila who know their songs and watch their music videos and concerts. The Philippines is actually just the start for 'KisPinoy' as they intend to bring the search to other countries, kaya magkakaroon ng KisMalaysia and also other places. They decided to start the series here because they acknowledge the fact that Filipino talents really excel in music."
"KisPinoy" is open to all Filipinos aged 13 and above (no age limit). It will start airing regularly on July 11, Saturdays at 9 PM. But before that, they will have two primers about the show on how the search was conducted in various provinces all over the country with Jinri Park, Richard's co-host, conducting it. Initially, 100 will be chosen from the thousands of applicants. Then there will be semi-finalist of 30 applicants, to be trimmed to 20, then 10, until only the top 5 finalists will remain. These 5 finalists will be taken to Seoul, Korea so they can be trained on how it is to be a K-Pop star. A total of no less than P4 million await the winners, with the ultimate winner getting a contract to perform in Korea.
During the show, 6 top Korean & K-Pop celebrities will be brought to Manila to act as judges. There will be 2 Filipino judges and one of them is Rico Blanco. They're still looking for the other one, preferably a female judge. The show will be directed by Rich Ilustre, director of "Eat Bulaga" and "Talentadong Pinoy".Going back to Richard, we ask him if he doesn't miss acting? "I do. I'm not closing my doors, but I'd prefer to do a movie than another soap, which is time-consuming. If there's a really good project that will be offered to me, I'd be willing to do it. Right now, TV5 has other offers but we're still talking about it. Basta as of now, my focus will be on 'KisPinoy' muna, which will run for one season, so abangan nyo kasi talagang naiiba ito. They're spending so much for it, even for the promo, as they have a budget of P48 million to promote it all over the country."
