Jose Sixto "Dingdong" Gonzalez Dantes III (born August 2, 1980) is a Filipino actor, filmmaker, and television personality. He is known for his acting versatility, and has played dramatic and action roles in films and television series in the Philippines. His accolades include multiple Box Office Entertainment Awards and PMPC Star Awards.
Jose Sixto Gonzales Dantes III was born on August 2, 1980 to Angeline (née Gonzales) and Jose Sixto "Jig" Dantes Jr. He began his career as a child model.[1] Several other commercials ensued before he joined an all-male dance group called Abztract Dancers, with his friend, actor Nathan Dados, and his cousin, actor Arthur Solinap. Their group became regulars on Eat Bulaga! and That's Entertainment.
As an actor, his first movie appearance was in the Shake, Rattle & Roll V episode "Anino". After three years, he debuted on GMA Network's youth-oriented T.G.I.S. when he was 17, under the name Raphael Dantes playing the role of Iñaki. He was first paired with Antoinette Taus. Dantes and Taus became one of the most memorable loveteams in Philippine entertainment industry, especially in the 90's. He appeared in films like Honey My Love So Sweet, Kiss Mo 'Ko and I'm Sorry My Love, and television programmes including Anna Karenina, and did a few guesting stints on ABS-CBN such as a F.L.A.M.E.S. episode, a youth-oriented romantic-drama anthology with different love teams and stories that aired from 1996 to 2000.
2000s
In 2000, Dantes appeared in the sitcom Super Klenk. In 2001, he was paired with actress Tanya García as they top-billed GMA-7's primetime soap opera series Sana ay Ikaw na Nga. The two headlined in another primetime romance-drama billing in 2003 titled Twin Hearts. He took on several hosting jobs including beauty pageants such as Binibining Pilipinas and GMA Network's reality artist search, StarStruck, and the game show Family Feud before its transfer to Edu Manzano. Aside from his television stints, he also appeared in films including Magkapatid and Pangarap Ko Ang Ibigin Ka. He hosts the suspense-thriller Wag Kukurap, occasionally directing. He played King Ybrahim/Ybarro in the Encantadia fantasy-themed television saga and the 2006 film Moments of Love[broken anchor].
In 2007, Dantes portrayed the lead role Sergio to Marian Rivera's character, Marimar in Marimar. During the same year, he was named No. 1 Bachelor of 2007 by Cosmopolitan magazine (Philippines).[2] He won the USTV Students’ Choice Award for "Most Popular Actor in a Drama/Mini-series."[2]
In early 2009, Dantes appeared on Ang Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang. He was chosen as Myx guest VJ in August 2009 to promote his album The Dingdong Dantes Experience.[4] The album turned gold one week after it was released on the variety show SOP.[citation needed] Dantes was chosen to portray the role of "Cholo" in the 2009 Philippine adaptation of the Korean drama Stairway to Heaven. He also replaced Richard Gomez as the new host for Family Feud.[5]
2010s
In 2010, Dantes was scheduled to release You to Me Are Everything. He was part of Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid's U.S. tour mid May–June. He appeared in the television show Endless Love from June 25 to October 15, 2010. Dantes became a cohost of Party Pilipinas on channel 7. He won the "Best Drama Actor Award" for Stairway To Heaven in the 2010 PMPC Star Awards for TV and was nominated for the same category at the 2010 Asian Television Awards.
In 2011, Dantes did a comedy primetime TV series titled, I Heart You, Pare! with his leading lady Regine Velasquez. He plays an obnoxious macho guy who falls with a heterosexual woman played by Velásquez who, after a chance encounter, met again as she plays a drag who tries to run away from the law. Unfortunately Regine Velasquez left seven weeks before the series came to a close due to her pregnancy with husband Ogie Alcasid. Iza Calzado replaced Velasquez in the series.
Dantes at the National Youth Commission event in Dingalan, Aurora, September 15, 2014.
He was part of the Star Cinema suspense film Segunda Mano with Kris Aquino and Angelica Panganiban as he played the main antagonist role, Ivan. This marked Dantes' first project with the rival station and film archive Star Cinema, a division of ABS-CBN. It was also his first time to work with Kapamilya stars. He stated that he signed a one-film contract with Star Cinema to do the film and work with Kris Aquino.[6][7]
In 2013, Dantes and Marian Rivera joined PETA in their campaign to free the elephant Mali from the Manila Zoo, where she has been kept for the majority of her life alone in a tiny enclosure and in need of proper care.[8]
In 2022, Dantes hosted the game show as the second time on GMA Network, Family Feud. During the season break, he appeared in his drama Royal Blood and hosted The Voice Generations.
His next films were part of the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival: Rewind, where he co-starred with Marian Rivera in a lead role, and Firefly, where he played an adult version of a character played by Euwenn Mikaell.
Dantes proposed for the second time to his perennial leading lady and longtime girlfriend, Marian Rivera, on the Marian dance show on August 9, 2014. They met on the set of Marimar in 2007. His first proposal was in Macau in August 2012.
On December 30, 2014 (Rizal Day), Dantes married Rivera in the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Cubao, Quezon City. Both Dantes and Rivera are exclusive artists of GMA Network. After years of hard work and proven successes of their television projects, both individually or together, GMA gave them the honor of the title as their network's primetime king and queen. Thus, their wedding was given the title "The Royal Wedding".[12][13] They announced an expected first child in April 2015; Rivera gave birth to Maria Letizia on November 23, 2015,[a] and later gave birth to their second child Jose Sixto IV (Sixto) on April 16, 2019, Holy Tuesday of the Holy Week.[18]
Dantes is also a Lieutenant Commander in the Philippine Navy.[19]
He is the cousin of fellow actors Carlo Gonzalez, Arthur Solinap, and also the cousin of former sports anchor and current TV host Bianca Gonzalez-Intal.
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