It’s Showtime gave host Vhong Navarro a rousing welcome upon his return to the popular noontime show on Monday. The actor-host was moved to tears as his fellow hosts performed Moffats’ “I’ll Be There For You.”
The television host and actor was in detention from September to December last year due to a non-bailable warrant of arrest issued by a Taguig court after model Deniece Cornejo filed a rape case against him.
In a decision on December 5, the court granted Vhong’s petition for bail in the amount of P1 million, and was released from detention the next day. He returned to It’s Showtime four days after the Taguig court dismissed the appeal of Deniece, who sought to cancel his bail and put him back in jail.
“Ang sarap ng pagtanggap niyo sa akin. Hindi ko alam paano kayo pasasalamatan sa mga taong nagdasal, nagtiwala, at hindi ako iniwan,” said Vhong. “Pagpasok ko dito sa ABS, sinabi ko ayaw ko umiyak. Ayoko ko umiyak kasi ito yung pangalawang bahay ko. Dito kung ano man ang pinagdaanan ko sa buhay ko, tanggap ka rito. Nandito ung mga kapatid at kapamilya ko pati na ang madlang pipol, extension kayo ng pamilya ko.”
Vhong revealed that it took him some time to return to the show as he had to attend to important matters.
“Paglabas ko hindi ko pala kaya magbalik agad kasi may mga proseso pang kailangan gawin. Pero mabait yung Panginoon hindi niya ako pinabayaan kaya andito na ako. Maraming salamat sa ABS-CBN kasi may trabaho ako ulit. Nandito rin yung pamilya ko,” he added.
Meanwhile, Vice Ganda shared that Vhong was unsure as to whether he would receive the same enthusiastic reception from the madlang people.
“Paulit-ulit ko na lang na pinaalala sa kanya na kung makakagaan sa dibdib niya na mas nararamdaman namin kung gaano ka nila kamahal. I don’t usually read comments pero kung tungkol sa iyo binabasa ko. More than 95 percent ng comments tungkol sa pagmamahal at suporta sa iyo. Kaya hindi magiging mahirap ang pagbabalik mo kasi inaantay lang nila ang pagbabalik mo para mayakap, mahalin, at suportahan ka,” the Unkabogable star said.
Their fellow hosts Anne Curtis, Ogie Alcasid, Kim Chiu, Karylle, Amy Perez, Ryan Bang, Teddy Corpuz, Jugs Jugueta, Ion Perez, Cianne Dominguez, and MC Muah also expressed their happiness at Vhong’s comeback.