KaladKaren

KaladKaren
KaladKaren
	KaladKaren in 2023
Born	Jervi Ryan Lisaba; August 9, 1992 (age 32); Manila, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Other names	Jervi Li; KaladKaren Davila;
Education	University of the Philippines Diliman(BA Broadcast Communication magna cum laude)
Occupations	Actor; News Anchor; TV Host;
Years active	2011–present
Agent	Star Magic (2023–present)
Known for	Trailblazer in the Philippine LGBTQIA+ community, Transgender woman in the mainstream media, Award-winning actress
Spouse	Luke Wrightson (m. 2024)
Website	KaladKaren on Instagram

Jervi Wrightson^[2] (born Jervi Ryan Lisaba;^[3] August 9, 1992), also known as Jervi Li^[4]^[5] and better known by her stage name KaladKaren, is a Filipino award-winning actress, TV host, writer, endorser, impersonator, LGBT rights advocate, television personality and radio host most known for her queer representation in the mainstream media of the Philippines. She is a trailblazer in the Philippine LGBTQIA+ community; becoming the first transgender woman news anchor in the country and the first transgender woman to win 'Best Supporting Actress' at the Summer Metro Manila Film Festival.^[6]

Quick Facts Born, Nationality ...

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Jervi graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City with magna cum laude honors and obtained a bachelor's degree in broadcast communication.^[7]

In 2012, KaladKaren (credited as Jervi Li) and Saida Diola formed Team Amigas on the series The Amazing Race Philippines 1 on TV5. The team placed 5th after being eliminated in Boracay.

TV host and personality career

In 2016, Jervi impersonated Karen Davila in the Philippine presidential election, as part of a political satire event led by the University of the Philippines.^[8] She would be known as KaladKaren due to her portrayal.

She co-hosted the morning talk show of ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda and presented Pilipinas Got Talent Exclusives, The Voice Kids Digi TV, The Voice Teens Digi TV and Trabahanap. She was also a mainstay of the program I Can See Your Voice and served as a resident judge on Drag Race Philippines.^[9]

In June 2023, she joined Frontline Pilipinas on TV5 as a presenter for the Showbiz and Trivia segment.

Acting career

In 2011, KaladKaren (credited as Jervi Li) appeared in the GMA's comedy horror anthology Spooky Nights: Bampirella along with stars Marian Rivera, Mikael Daez, and Gelli de Belen.

In 2023, KaladKaren would act in Here Comes the Groom which premiered at the 2023 Summer Metro Manila Film Festival.^[10] In the film, she portrayed Wilhelmina who was also a trans woman like herself. Her character switched bodies with Junior, the protagonist which was portrayed by Enchong Dee hence she had to act like a man for parts of the film to fulfill the role.^[11] She won the best supporting actress award in the festival, becoming the first trans woman to win the said award and second to win in an actress category award in the Philippine film industry after Iyah Mina in 2018.^[12] She appeared in the iWantTFC miniseries such as Drag You & Me and Fit Check and is played by herself to make a supporting character was denoted by a cameo appearance in the drama-suspense thriller miniseries, Fractured, along with co-stars by Francine Diaz, Seth Fedelin, Jeremiah Lisbo, Kaori Oinuma, Raven Rigor, Sean Tristan, and Daniela Stranner.

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KaladKaren identifies as a transgender woman and advocate of LGBT rights.^[13]^[14] She has been engaged to boyfriend Luke Wrightson since 2020.^[15] On September 8, 2024, she and Wrightson got married in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom.^[16]

Television

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Station
2011	Spooky Nights: Bampriella	Megan Pak	GMA Network
2012	The Amazing Race Philippines 1	Herself	TV5
2017	Pasada Sais Trenta	Herself / Guest	DZMM TeleRadyo
2017–2019	Gandang Gabi, Vice!	Guest	ABS-CBN
2018–2020	Umagang Kay Ganda	Co-host
2019	Banana Sundae	Herself
2019–2021	I Can See Your Voice	Herself / SINGvestigator	ABS-CBN Kapamilya Channel A2Z
2022	It's Showtime	Jury	Kapamilya Channel A2Z TV5
2022–present	Drag Race Philippines	Herself / Judge	Discovery+ and HBO Go (Philippines)
2022–present	BalitaOneNan	KaladKaren Dadilat	BuKo
2023	Headstart with Karen Davila	Herself / Guest	ABS-CBN News Channel
	TV Patrol	Herself / Guest Segment Anchor "Star Patrol"	Kapamilya Channel A2Z ABS-CBN News Channel TeleRadyo
	Family Feud	Herself/Guest	GMA Network
	Drag You & Me	Gerardo Pallan / Miranda Kalaw-Forbes	iWantTFC
	Fit Check	Barbie	Amazon Prime Video
2023	Fractured	Herself	iWantTFC
2023	E.A.T.	Herself / Segment Co-Host	TV5 RPTV One PH
2023–present	Frontline Pilipinas	Herself / Segment Anchor "Showbiz Eto Na Nga" and "K-alaman"	TV5 RPTV One PH
2024	It's Showtime	Herself / Guest Performer	Kapamilya Channel A2Z ALLTV GMA Network GTV

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Radio

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Station
2017	Pasada Sais Trenta	Herself / Guest	DZMM
2023	Ang Tinig N'yo	Guest Co-host	DWPM

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Film

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role
2017	Gandarrapiddo: The Revenger Squad	KaladKaren Davila (reporter)
2018	The Girl in the Orange Dress	Ogie
2023	Here Comes the Groom	Wilhelmina

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Other credits

Eat Bulaga (GMA, 2009–2012) - Writer^[a]^[17]
The Amazing Race Philippines 2 (TV5, 2014) - Writer^[a]

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More information Year, Work ...

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result	Source
2023	Here Comes the Groom	1st Summer Metro Manila Film Festival	Best Supporting Actress	Won	^[12]

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Credited as Jervi Lisaba.

[1]
"KaladKaren inks contract with ABS-CBN's Star Magic". ABS-CBN News. June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
[2]
Adina, Armin P. (October 1, 2024). "Kaladkaren no more? Anchor debuts married name in post-wedding news duty". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
[3]
Vice Ganda (host), KaledKaren; Cipriano, Kean; Kiray, Wacky; Bayani Agbayani (guests). SING-vestigators reveal their real names. Gandang Gabi, Vice! (TV broadcast) (in Filipino). ABS-CBN. Event occurs at 2:05–2:10. Retrieved July 19, 2023 – via YouTube. Vice: Anong real name mo? / KaladKaren: Jervi Ryan / Vice: Taray! Last name mo Ryan? / KaladKaren: Hindi... Lisaba [Vice: What is your real name? KaladKaren: Jervi Ryan / Vice: Sassy! So your Last name is Ryan? / KaladKaren: No... Lisaba]
[4]
"'My new family': KaladKaren is now part of Star Magic". ABS-CBN News. May 24, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
[5]
"KaladKaren signs with Star Magic, to go beyond impersonation". Philstar.com. June 29, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
[6]
Inocencio, Syrah Vivien (April 11, 2023). "KaladKaren first trans woman to win MMFF best supporting actress". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on April 11, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
[7]
"Kaladkaren turns emotional while showing Karen Davila her new home". ABS-CBN. May 15, 2022 [May 14, 2022].
[8]
"KaladKaren shares before and after weight loss photos".
[9]
"Judge KaladKaren completes the 'Drag Race Philippines' trinity". Preen.ph. July 20, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
[10]
Pasajol, Anne (April 12, 2023). "KaladKaren makes history as first transwoman to win MMFF best supporting actress award". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
[11]
"Enchong Dee on gender-swapping role in 'Here Comes The Groom': "Ang hirap maging babae!"" [Enchong Dee on gender-swapping role in 'Here Comes The Groom': "It's hard to be a woman!"]. PEP.ph (in Filipino). Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc. March 30, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
[12]
"Kaladkaren, ikalawang trans woman na nanalo ng acting award sa Pilipinas" [Kaladkaren, second trans woman to win acting award in the Pilipinas]. PEP.ph (in Filipino). Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc. April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
[13]
Cruz, Dana (August 27, 2022). "KaladKaren to fiance on their 10th anniversary: 'You're indeed the love of my life'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
[14]
Cruz, Dana (November 9, 2022). "KaladKaren on 'heterosexual rights' bill: 'It's not a pie, they aren't oppressed'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
[15]
Bernardino, Stephanie (September 10, 2020). "#LoveWins: Kaladkaren announces engagement to British boyfriend". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
[16]
"In Photos: Kaladkaren's wedding with fiancé Luke Wrightson". ABS-CBN News. September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
[17]
Anarcon, James Patrick (October 28, 2017). "Will KaladKaren sign an exclusive contract with ABS-CBN?". PEP.ph. Retrieved July 5, 2023.

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[KaladKaren-17] Credited as Jervi Lisaba.

[1] [1]
"KaladKaren inks contract with ABS-CBN's Star Magic". ABS-CBN News. June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.

[2] [2]
Adina, Armin P. (October 1, 2024). "Kaladkaren no more? Anchor debuts married name in post-wedding news duty". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 2, 2024.

[3] [3]
Vice Ganda (host), KaledKaren; Cipriano, Kean; Kiray, Wacky; Bayani Agbayani (guests). SING-vestigators reveal their real names. Gandang Gabi, Vice! (TV broadcast) (in Filipino). ABS-CBN. Event occurs at 2:05–2:10. Retrieved July 19, 2023 – via YouTube. Vice: Anong real name mo? / KaladKaren: Jervi Ryan / Vice: Taray! Last name mo Ryan? / KaladKaren: Hindi... Lisaba [Vice: What is your real name? KaladKaren: Jervi Ryan / Vice: Sassy! So your Last name is Ryan? / KaladKaren: No... Lisaba]

[4] [4]
"'My new family': KaladKaren is now part of Star Magic". ABS-CBN News. May 24, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2023.

[5] [5]
"KaladKaren signs with Star Magic, to go beyond impersonation". Philstar.com. June 29, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2023.

[6] [6]
Inocencio, Syrah Vivien (April 11, 2023). "KaladKaren first trans woman to win MMFF best supporting actress". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on April 11, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.

[7] [7]
"Kaladkaren turns emotional while showing Karen Davila her new home". ABS-CBN. May 15, 2022 [May 14, 2022].

[8] [8]
"KaladKaren shares before and after weight loss photos".

[Preen-9] [9]
"Judge KaladKaren completes the 'Drag Race Philippines' trinity". Preen.ph. July 20, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2022.

[10] [10]
Pasajol, Anne (April 12, 2023). "KaladKaren makes history as first transwoman to win MMFF best supporting actress award". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 12, 2023.

[11] [11]
"Enchong Dee on gender-swapping role in 'Here Comes The Groom': "Ang hirap maging babae!"" [Enchong Dee on gender-swapping role in 'Here Comes The Groom': "It's hard to be a woman!"]. PEP.ph (in Filipino). Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc. March 30, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.

[ikalawang-12] [12]
"Kaladkaren, ikalawang trans woman na nanalo ng acting award sa Pilipinas" [Kaladkaren, second trans woman to win acting award in the Pilipinas]. PEP.ph (in Filipino). Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc. April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.

[fiance-10th-13] [13]
Cruz, Dana (August 27, 2022). "KaladKaren to fiance on their 10th anniversary: 'You're indeed the love of my life'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 12, 2023.

[14] [14]
Cruz, Dana (November 9, 2022). "KaladKaren on 'heterosexual rights' bill: 'It's not a pie, they aren't oppressed'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 12, 2023.

[lovewins-15] [15]
Bernardino, Stephanie (September 10, 2020). "#LoveWins: Kaladkaren announces engagement to British boyfriend". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved April 12, 2023.

[16] [16]
"In Photos: Kaladkaren's wedding with fiancé Luke Wrightson". ABS-CBN News. September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2024.

[18] [17]
Anarcon, James Patrick (October 28, 2017). "Will KaladKaren sign an exclusive contract with ABS-CBN?". PEP.ph. Retrieved July 5, 2023.

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KaladKaren

TV host and personality career

Acting career

Television

Radio

Film

Other credits

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Education

Career

Personal life

Filmography

Awards and nominations

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References

KaladKaren
KaladKaren in 2023
Born	Jervi Ryan Lisaba (1992-08-09) August 9, 1992 (age 32) Manila, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Other names	Jervi Li KaladKaren Davila
Education	University of the Philippines Diliman(BA Broadcast Communication magna cum laude)
Occupations	Actor News Anchor TV Host
Years active	2011–present
Agent	Star Magic (2023–present)^[1]
Known for	Trailblazer in the Philippine LGBTQIA+ community, Transgender woman in the mainstream media, Award-winning actress
Spouse	Luke Wrightson (m. 2024)
Website	KaladKaren on Instagram