Meet the Teams of The Amazing Race Philippines: DryedMangoez Edition Season 22!

Introduction → Meet the Teams → Race Tracker → Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 → Leg 4 → Leg 5 → Leg 6 → Leg 7 → Leg 8 → Leg 9 → Leg 10 → Leg 11 → Leg 12

The opening credits are here!

Ever since I started whipping up opening credits for these fake TARPHDME seasons, the cast lists were always limited to whatever passable video of a potential team I could find on the internets. That’s why, like here once again, most of the teams are (more often than not) going to be married couples. Since usually Filipino celeb couples loves doing fancy engagement or save the date videos. Or of course, cinematic videos of their wedding day.

Last year I really lucked out thanks to Coca-Cola having featured some TARPHDME alums in their ad campaign that included perfect Amazing Race-ready shots of the pairs. lol

This time around, I ended up having a wishlist of potential teams who had plenty of YouTubed interactions and content, but not so much the perfect TAR intro shot. Thankfully, I was able to scrounge up enough for 12 teams. And here they are! I think it’s a pretty solid cast.

Again, a lot of couples. Five couples out of the 12 total teams. Three siblings. Three friends. And one parent/child team. I was actually looking for at least one more parent/child team. But there weren’t very many Filipino parent/child celebs to choose from. And the ones who did have good enough videos to use, they’ve already Raced on TARPHDME lolol

Some interesting fun factses, Paul Jake Castillo and Wilma Doesnt actually both really did audition for the real TARPH back for season two. Neither were cast of course. But I think both teams would’ve been good on the Race. Especially if TV5 had followed up with a full celeb edition. Wilma also has a fun, bubbly personality. She is one of the best TV hosts in the Philippines. So aside from people rooting for the only parent/child team, I think a lot of people will also enjoy having her personality on the Race too.

For any celeb TARPH season, you can be sure you’ll have a team of athletes. Here we have one and a half. Eya & EJ are popular volleyball players. (I actually did not know volleyball was so popular in the Philippines.) And Jack Animam is a great basketball player who’s done well both in the Philippines and abroad. She had recently posted a vlog of her visiting her NU/Gilas coach Pat Aquino in Chicago. So, perfect!

Having just gotten into P-pop, having a team of P-pop idols was definitely a must. And of the many talented groups, ALAMAT caught my eye the most. Partly because of member Taneo who is from Kalinga which is where my father’s side of the family is from. I was definitely intent on having him on the Race, but it was a bit difficult to find any really good videos of him and another member from the group. lol I was able to find something good enough though.

What’s interesting is for a TARPH is that you definitely need to cast a younger team. Especially an idol team from any of the many P-pop groups. TAR China has cast teams of either male or female pop groups in each one of their seasons. It helps to bring in the young fans of course.

All the couples on this cast are probably the serious, Racebot-type to be honest. Though of the group, I think Hidilyn & Julius could be a big fan favorite. Especially with Hidilyn’s recent history-making performance at the Olympics.

Aljur & Vin look to be the alpha male types while Yassi & Issa would be the girl power alpha females. So “Hips” aka Herlene was a good addition to the cast to keep things light and fun. Especially with her frenemy Alex. Together, I would expect them to be funny, but potentially clash with other teams (and each other) as well. So they would be a great team to have on a TARPH.

So, again, here are your 12 teams for TARPHDME22! 😂

Eya & EJ Laure Sisters
Sisters Eya and EJ have proven themselves both on the volleyball court and as popular social media influencers.

Sheena Halili & Jeron Manzanero Married
Actress Sheena Halili married lawyer and government official Jeron Manzanero in 2020.

Lara Quigaman & Marco Alcaraz Married
Former Miss International Precious Lara Quigaman and actor Marco Alcaraz have been married ten years and recently welcomed their third child together.

BJ Pascual & Mike Lavarez Dating
Stylish celeb fashion photographer BJ Pascual and art director/DJ Mike Lavarez have been happy together now for years.

Herlene “Hipon” Budol & Alexandra Abdon Frenemies
These two beauty queens caused quit a stir with their apparent rivalry after clashing on the set of a commercial shoot. But with their similarly kulit and makwela personalities, the popular TV host and former Miss Manila would soon sort out their differences and misunderstandings and are now friends.

Jack Animam and Coach Pat Aquino Friends
Basketball phenom Jack Animam and Coach Pat Aquino’s friendship goes back a long way. From their championship run at National University to currently members of the Gilias Pilipinas national team.

Yassi & Issa Pressman Sisters
Sisters Yassi and Issa Pressman have made names for themselves in acting, modeling and hosting, among many other talents.

Aljur & Vin Abrenica Brothers
Actors Aljur and Vin Abrenica have grown up a lot in the last couple of years as the brothers have each become fathers, but now at different stages in their respective relationships.

Brylle “Taneo” Uyam & Joshua “Alas” Alvarez Friends/P-pop Idols
Taneo and Alas have charmed and excited many fans around the world as the handsome and talented members of popular P-pop group ALAMAT.

Kaye Abad & Paul Jake Castillo Married
Paul Jake Castillo originally auditioned for TV5’s original (and REAL! lol) Amazing Race Philippines Season 2 in 2014. Since then, he’s married fellow actor Kaye Abad and they have two children.

Wilma & Asiana Doesn’t Mother/Daughter
Asiana Dassent hopes to follow in the footsteps of her mother: model, actress, TV host, entrepreneur Wilma Dassent. Together with their family, they run their own restaurant Chinks Ni Otit which they opened during the pandemic. And Wilma, who just married longtime boyfriend Gerick, also auditioned for the original Amazing Race Philippines on TV5.

Hidilyn Diaz & Julius Naranjo Engaged
Olympic Gold Medalist Hidilyn Diaz announced her engagement to boyfriend and coach Julius in October 2021, just months after her historic triumph in Tokyo.