Grace Lee: GMA Artist Center’s newest gem

Her name is Kyung Hee Lee. A number of you may know her as Grace Lee, the charming fixture in Q-11’s “The Sweet Life" hosted by Lucy Torres-Gomez and Wilma Doesnt. Her chinita eyes must have made you stop for a while, to take another look. Contrary to what many might think, Grace does not have any Filipino blood. Born in Korea, the host is a fascinating model of a foreigner “Filipinized" or made Filipino by many years of residing in the Philippines. Fresh grad Grace’s family migrated to the Philippines when she was 10 years old because of her dad’s business. “Tapos naisip niya, maganda ang education dito sa Philippines. So he decided to have all of us move in. Four of us – my parents, me and my little sister." Both her parents are now involved in their family business, with her mom managing two Korean grocery stores in Ortigas, and her dad into trade and retail. Grace, 25, says that she’s almost two years behind in school years here in the Philippines, because kids start first grade in Korea at 8 years old, and when she got here, she had to wait for around six months before enrolling for the coming school year. Nevertheless, she had no problem adjusting. She studied at St. Paul Pasig from third grade till high school, then went on to Ateneo de Manila University for college. She graduated last year with an AB Interdisciplinary Studies (Communication and Chinese Studies) degree. She shares, “Magulo akong bata sa college. [My first course was] Political Science, then after one sem, [I shifted to] Communication Arts. Parang gusto ko rin mag-Chinese Studies, so lumipat ako sa Interdisciplinary Studies para I could take Communications and Chinese at the same time. Pero I graduated on time, ha!" Why study Chinese when she’s Korean? “Chinese, para four languages, di ba? (Grace can speak Filipino, English, Korean, and is learning Mandarin.) Actually, very interested ako sa Chinese culture, especially when you grow up in the Philippines, you’re surrounded by Chinese culture—as much as you’re surrounded by Philippine culture. And marami kasing Korean language na na-derive sa Chinese characters. So for me, it’s like a deeper study of my Korean language through Chinese." Claim to fame How did Grace end up in GMA after college? “Na-meet ko si Ms. Ida Henares (of GMA Artist Center) through Joey Abacan (of GMA Films). I met him first, sabi niya, ‘Dapat mag-artista ka, bakit ayaw mong mag-artista?’ Sabi ko, I don’t mind reporting, (pero) hindi ko alam sa acting. He said, ‘Sige, pakilala kita kay Ms. Ida.’ Then I met her, and sabi niya, ‘Aba, parang mas bagay nga sa’yo reporting.’ “And then she asked me to interview for a show that was coming up. So I got the interview, tapos mayroon pa akong written exam. Because [GMA] News was also getting me—I was interested in news. So I took the exam and was able to pass, but then, nagkaroon ng conflict sa The Sweet Life." “Actually, news is something that I really, really want to do in the future, I think, because it’s in line with reporting, and features. So that’s my long term goal. Sayang lang talaga, nagkaroon ng conflict, ‘cause I would have loved to do it. Pero napili ko 'yung The Sweet Life, because Ms. Lucy (Torres-Gomez) is such a sweet person. And I’m so lucky, very, very, very, extremely lucky to start my career with people like Ms. Lucy and Wilma (Doesnt). These are like the two nicest people in the industry! Di ba? When you say, ‘Who’s nice?’ People would usually say, ‘Ms. Lucy!’ Si Ate Wilma, nakakatawa, di ba? And I hear a lot of stories na 'yung newbies, nahihirapan sila because of who they’re with, pero ako talaga, I feel extremely lucky na sila kasama ko. I feel blessed." Grace has been the lifestyle correspondent in The Sweet Life since March of this year. “What I do is I cover events, I go to interesting places, like restaurants, or mga family outings. We go out of town a lot. I interview a lot of interesting people as well." “And because I’m Korean, I actually suggested to them, since Korean dramas are such a big thing here in the Philippines, and as much as the Korean exposure is done here in the Philippines, parang wala pa tayong masyadong personal interviews with all these artists. We always watch them in dramas, pero wala ‘yung mga interviews. So with the help of my uncle, I was able to go (to Korea) and actually feature some of the famous Korean telenovela actors!" “We went to the places where they shot Jewel in the Palace, 'yung mga locations nila na very famous, and of course, shopping places, eateries, restaurants, Korean food, the culture, and most interestingly, of course, 'yung mga actors and actresses we were able to interview." Grace interviewed stars from hits such as Jewel in the Palace, Attic Cat, Lovers in Harvard, and even sexy pop singer Mina (who sang “Answer the Phone," a big hit in Manila). “Dapat kasi, nag-concert si Mina dito last year, I think, but nagkaroon yata ng problema sa organizers, so na-cancel 'yung concert. Pero you know what? Nakapunta na raw siya dito twice or three times already, and she’s in love with the Philippines! Sabi niya, gusto na daw niya mag-concert dito very soon. Even si ‘Captain Min’ (from Jewel in the Palace), nagpa-promise ako sa kanya, kasi hindi pa daw siya nakapunta dito. So sabi ko sa kanya to come!" Grace’s interviews with the Korean celebrities will be shown on The Sweet Life from October 15 to 19. They will also be aired on Showbiz Central. Grace adds with a laugh, “I’m sure that a lot of people will be excited, kasi lahat ng na-interview ko na lalaki, gwapo!" - iGMA.tv