May Ward

We first meet Edward Barber in the early days of summer, three weeks after his fourth place win in Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7, the 13th overall season of the popular reality-TV show.

- Shara Cayetano

The 16-year-old greets the people in the mini-studio of the Summit Media office with a wide grin, as he settles into a chair next to his mom and other companions.

Down the hall, we find the season’s Big Winner, the 19-year-old Maymay Entrata, posing for souvenir shots with several fans. When she finally gets to the mini-studio entrance, she says “Hello po!” in her own bright way, and sits right in front of Edward.

Even when they’re surrounded by strangers, Maymay and Edward are still the kuwela versions of themselves seen on PBB. They tease each other. They laugh together. They talk from opposite ends of the room. On their makeup chairs, every time they banter the stylists pause to let them finish their exchange. One can’t help but smile just watching them. Perhaps, that’s the reason why their love team, now known as MayWard, is so popular.

Before fans coined the uni-name MayWard, Maymay and Edward were two teens from different sides of the world, each with a story to tell and dreams to chase.

For Maymay of Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao, the story and the dream were simple: she had always wanted to become an actress. Before PBB: Lucky 7, she had already auditioned for the show twice—first, in 2012, when she was in second year high school; then in 2015, for PBB: 737. Her third try, she decided, would be her last.

“Naisip ko, ‘Sige pa, kaya pa,’” she recalls. “Bahala na. Last na ’to, kasi kalapit-lapit na, nandiyan na ’yong mall, ’tapos dito lang ako, nagbe-bedspacer. Baka ’yon na ’yon… ’Tinodo ko na.”

But as the saying goes, and as things turned out, third time’s the charm. Maymay finally became a teen housemate on PBB: Lucky 7—and the rest is history.