They were born in Surrey, England, with a British dad, Phil Sr., and a Filipina mom, Susan Placer. Both of their parents have passed and they act as guardians for their younger sister, Carrie, who’s now a teenager and studies in an international school. Did they experience sibling rivalry while growing up?
“Yes, we’re always competing for the attention of our parents,” says Phil. “I use James to motivate me. Whatever he has achieved, I want to achieve also.”
“But it’s more of a healthy kind of rivalry,” says James. “We never got to the point of fighting that we don’t speak to each other anymore.”
What are the qualities they like and dislike most in each other?
“Phil is very ambitious,” says James. “He wants to always get what he wants. He sets goals for himself and works hard to achieve them, but sometimes, he forgets other things because he becomes so driven by his goals.”
“James can be sobrang sweet sa’min ni Carrie,” says Phil. “Since wala pang one year ang difference namin, as we were going up, para kaming kambal. When I get tackled in the field, he’s the first person to fight for me. He has always been like that. But he also has a temper. May mood swings siya.”
James has a girlfriend for three years now but they have no plans of tying the knot yet. Phil was linked to movie stars Angel Locsin and Bangs Garcia. “Wala na kami but we remain good friends. No ill feelings between us.”
Are they ready to try acting in TV5’s “Wattpad Presents”? “Okay lang,” says James. “We can’t play football forever. As it is, I enjoy showbiz and seeing how the industry works.”
“We certainly don’t want to close our doors,” says Phil. “Acting-acting lang pag may time in the future. But we have to prepare for it. We don’t want to embarrass or humiliate ourselves.”
Sports5 Manager Vitto Lazatin says they will show a different side of the Younghusbands in “YH Tube”. “They’ve done ‘FYI’ before, a segment on AksyonTV where they give instructions about football right on the field,” says Lazatin. “This time, they’re hosting inside a studio and they get to show their funny side. They try their best to deliver their spiels in Tagalog and we give them some Tagalog tonguetwisters that can really come out funny. Both brothers have a great sense of humor and they have good laugh, like everyone else. The show will have various funny segments like ‘Aray Ko Moments’, ‘SSS, Sometimes Soccer Sucks’ and ‘Balls Just Wanna Have Fun’. They’re all laugh out loud.”
So don’t miss joining James and Phil starting this Saturday, February 21, as they brings the world of sports’ comedy of errors on “YH Tube’ on TV5, the Happy Network.