Joey de Leon responded to the critics of Eat Bulaga and It’s Showtime fans amid the rumors that their noontime show was facing financial difficulties.
On the Thursday episode of Eat Bulaga, Joey said that the critics who were spreading the said information were only jealous of the longevity of their show.
“Naiingit lang ang mga ‘yan dahil hindi sila kasama sa Top 5 Longest Running TV Show in the World,” said Joey. “At ito muna ang hamon ko – Umabot lang kayo ng 15 years baka luluhod pa ako sa harap niyo. 15 lang ha, eh by that time baka bumiyahe na ako eh,”
He added: “Bastusan na kasi labanan eh, bastusan na, siraan, walang kwenta, but enjoy lang tayo. Umabot muna kayo ng 45 years. Longest running top 5 (TV Show) in the World. Mainggit kayo! Wala eh ganun talaga… Kasama naman kayo dapat dun kasi Pilipinas ‘yung dala namin eh. Bakit kayo ganyan, ang sasama ng ugali niyo,”
It can be recalled that social media pages Chakapuso and Kapatid Insider published information about the alleged secret meeting set by TV5 to discuss the financial problems and ballooning budget of Eat Bulaga.
According to the reports, aside from the increasing budget of the show, Eat Bulaga was also allegedly facing profit profit-sharing problem with TV5’s Mediaquest.
Fans also claimed that the Kapamilya program’s arrival on GMA Network quickly made It’s Showtime the number one noontime show in the country.
However, the decision of TV5 to transfer Eat Bulaga on a bigger studio contradicted the claims of the critics.