She may still be in the shadows of her prominent mom, Sylvia Sanchez, and famous siblings Arjo Atayde and Ria Atayde, but “New Gen Dance Champ” and host of ABS-CBN Studios’ ongoing reality dance search “Time To Dance” Gela Atayde has been diligently striving to make a name for herself in the local entertainment scene as a dancer and actress.
She made her acting debut in the 2023 teen drama mystery series “Senior High,” playing the role of Sanya Alba, and went on to reprise it in “High Street” the following year. However, did you know that despite how huge an opportunity it was, Gela still had to convince her parents to allow her to accept the offer? Well, it’s because she has not finished her studies yet, and they wanted her to focus on that first, just like what her Ate Ria did.
But Gela was so determined to seize the once-in-a-lifetime chance, not to mention that she also competed in the 2023 World Hip Hop Dance Championship with her dance troupe, Legit Status, so she decided to take a leave of absence in order for her to undergo training. And that paid off because it was their group that was hailed as the grand winner of the said competition.
At present, she’s been juggling her work commitments and school activities in her last term at De La Salle University, so she really has to carefully work on her schedule, which is quite tough for a regular student like her.
When quizzed by “TV Patrol” news anchor-turned-content creator Bernadette Sembrano if someone can expect a bright future in dance, Gela imparted that it was actually her main motivation in doing “Time To Dance.” She said, “That’s why I want to do “Time To Dance” because that’s something I want to raise awareness on, especially in the Philippines at least. Hindi nga po siya as appreciated.”
Thus, aside from being her means of release and self-expression, she has always considered dance as the community and people that she stayed for and raised, which includes her teammates in Legit Status.
In the latter part of the interview, she mentioned that her mom’s journey as the breadwinner of her side of the family inspired her to do whatever she can do for the dance community. She related, “I wanna be out there with the people that deserve it also. Parang mabigat sa loob knowing na nandito ako, especially as a dancer, because there are so many great dancers in the Philippines even better than me. Gusto ko sila na makilala ng mundo also. I have so much respect for the dance community also, and I wanna be able to help build the community, help it be known because it deserves the recognition it’s not getting yet.”
She may come off as an introvert, but Gela confessed that she actually grew up as an extrovert. It was only during the pandemic when she suddenly transformed into an introvert as she suffered from a really bad anxiety that completely took a toll on her mental health. She even stopped dancing for six months and assumed that it was already the end, as she told herself, “I would never gonna dance again.”
During that time, Gela found herself enjoying her own company as she grew fond of being alone and being at home, which is ironic since she performs in front of many people. According to her, she may love to act and dance, but, at the same time, she doesn’t want to be seen and has stage fright and anxiety. She uttered, “It’s really tough for me. Every performance is gut-wrenching for me.”
Since she felt like losing it during the pandemic, Gela confessed that it really took her a lot of effort to build her confidence, especially now that she’s already ventured into hosting. She also took this interview with Bernadette as an opportunity to clarify the spiteful rumors beleaguering her hosting gig for “Time To Dance.”
“Super. Super pressure kasi a lot of people nga think kaya [ko] lang nakuha dahil we’re co-producing it,” she started off when asked by the host how she feels about being picked as the host of the reality search. “But then, what people don’t know is it’s actually a concept that was pitched to us by Direk Lauren [Dyogi]. My mom just wanted to help produce it also para maganda ‘yong [kakalabasan]. Concept-wise, the idea of putting me into hosting was really Direk Lauren.”
Then she continued, “It’s true that it wouldn’t be possible without my parents, but, at the same time, I try not to get that in my head because that’s what really triggers my imposter syndrome. I have really bad imposter syndrome.”
Aside from dancing and acting, Gela also expressed her interest in learning how to sing. While she believes that she doesn’t have the voice, she imparted that Star Music executives Roxy Liquigan and Jonathan Manalo actually told her that she could actually sing.
If the universe allows, she hopes to become a total performer like Popstar Royalty Sarah Geronimo, but she wouldn’t push it if it’s really not for her. While others’ motivation to get into showbiz is to become famous, Gela said that she doesn’t really want to perform to become prominent but to simply enjoy and express herself through dance.