He is currently one of the participants of the regional dating show.
In Trendrod‘s exclusive conversation with actor Marco Gallo, the 25-year-old film and TV personality dished out some behind-the-scenes tidbits about his journey in the Singapore-based reality program Wingman.
In the 12-episode series, singles from around Southeast Asia live inside a villa. But in this digital-first program, each participant are accompanied by their best friend, who will be tasked with helping them find love by tackling challenges to earn them dates and guide their romantic choices as their designated Wingman.
For the Filipino-Italian star, he brought along his best friend and 25-year-old model, Lorenzo Isip, for this unique chance of finding love among other single ladies inside the villa.
We first asked him how he was cadt in the program and the reason behind choosing Lorenzo as his wingman.
“Well, my company (Viva), on a random day in February, offered me the job and I was happy to join for the experience!” Marco revealed to us.
He furthered, “Lorenzo is part of my group of friends, and honestly we are all best friends, but Lorenzo was the only one available at that time, so we happened to go together!”
Eight episodes into the series, Marco has went on three different dates so far. His first was with Cheryl, then Frayya, and most recently, Yuki—who looked to date Marco even during her time as a wingman.
But on his first date, the actor admitted that he felt “awkward” with Cheryl and he even rated it as “negative 11 out of 10.”
However, in his next date, Marco was visibly more at ease and even brought out some tricks up his sleeves, such as having a small game while eating chocolates with Frayya.
“Oh yeah, (the first date) definitely helped me warm up better for the next date,” he admitted when he was questioned if that helped him perform better in his succeeding dates.
It was back in 2015 when the country first saw Marco on Philippine TV as one of the contestants of a popular reality program. 11 years later, he is back on screen for another one.
Hence, we sought to know if his past stint helped him in strategizing in Wingman. Although, for him, being authentic is the real name of the game.
“Like I said in the show, ‘honesty is the best policy.’ So, while I was inside, I tried to show who I was,” he said to us.
Moving beyond the show, we also took time to get to know his views on the realities of navigating modern love and some tips he can share with anyone. Here is how it went.
Trendrod: “Any piece of advice you wish you knew before stepping into a first date? Also, what can a woman do on your first meeting that will instantly steal your heart?”
Marco: “Just go for it to not be shy.”
Trendrod: “You said in an episode that being sexually compatible with someone is part of your checklist. Do you think that it is something that other people should also consider when they are looking for a partner?”
Marco: “Definitely.”
Trendrod: “Which setup works better for you: approaching someone on your own, or relying on a wingman to help you win her heart?”
Marco: “Approaching someone on my own.”
Trendrod: “In the real world setting, do you think having a dashing/charming wingman is more advantageous for a person to score a date, or does that overshadow them since the wingman could also be their competition?”
Marco: “I feel like the right wingman won’t overshadow you.”
Episodes of Wingman are streaming on Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube channel and on the mewatch app, with two new episodes dropping every Thursday until the finale on October 8. Viewing is free and available globally on both platforms.
The winning couple will receive SGD20,000, while the winning wingman takes home SGD10,000.
