Blog

Early life

James was born in Sydney, Australia on May 11, 1993 to an Australian father and a Filipino mother. He has five brothers and two sisters. He has 7 siblings on his father side and 1 sibling on his mother side. His parents separated when he was only two years old. He lived there until he was 16 years old. He moved with only his father to the Philippines, leaving his mother, brothers and sister back in Australia. The reason of their move is because of financial trouble and his father needed some medical attention. James was having troubles adjusting in the country as he is experiencing problems with a different academics and social skills, especially the language. James was a gymnast and a swimmer. He used to study at Makati Science High School before his dad decided to enroll him in Karabar High School Distance Education Centre, an Australian distance-learning center located at Karabar, New South Wales, Australia.

Career

Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Clash 2010

Main article: Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Clash 2010

James was only 16 years old when he entered the Pinoy Big Brother house as one of the 10 Teenternational housemates on April 30, 2010 (Day 22).He celebrated his 17th birthday inside the house with his co-housemates giving him a surprise pool party. James is the only teenternational housemate who has Filipino blood. James was almost forced evicted twice during his stay inside the house, the first one was when he was brought to the hospital on May 21, 2010 (Day 43) because of chest pains, discoloration, and shortness of breath and the second one was when he was again brought to the hospital on June 1, 2010 (Day 53) for the same reason but this time together with his co-housemate Angelo Pasco. At first, doctors diagnosed him with costrochondritis or muscle pains in the rib/chest area. It was learned later on that he has a hole in one of his lungs that makes it hard for him to breathe. James was able to go back but he needs to rest and wear an oxygen tube for 1 week 24/7, he was then told by Big Brother that he can already remove his oxygen tube on June 8, 2010 (Day 60) but he still needs to wear it at night while he sleeps.
On June 26, 2010 (Day 78), he was crowned as the Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Clash 2010 Big Winner after getting 179, 294 (19.75%) of the total votes just 1.05% ahead of the total votes received by the 2nd Teen Big Placer, Ryan Bang who got 169, 697 (18.70%) of the total votes, these marks as the closest race ever to become the Big Winner in the history of Pinoy Big Brother. As the Big Winner, James won P1,000,000 (plus the same amount to his chosen charity) from Jack n' Jill, a laptop computer from Sony Vaio, a 42-inch flat screen TV from Sony Bravia, an Asian tour package for two care of Von Dutch, P1,500,000 worth of bottled purified water business from Crystal Clear, and a condominium unit worth P3,000,000 courtesy of Globe Asiatique.

Acting

Television Career

Right after winning PBB, James was offered a 2 year Star Magic contract with ABS-CBN. He was then paired with his co-housemate, Devon Seron in some ABS-CBN shows like Shoutout! and Good Vibes. He was also paired with Yen Santos in Pintada.
On August 26, 2014, James signed a two-year contract with ABS-CBN that marked his exclusivity to the network after two years of freelancing. As part of the contract, Reid and his onscreen partner Nadine Lustre starred in their first TV series together as a loveteam entitled Wansapanataym Presents: My App #Boyfie which was also based on Wattpad story.