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Ylona Jade Navalle Garcia (born February 28, 2002), better known as Ylona Garcia, is a Filipino-Australian singer, songwriter, composer, actress, model, and dancer. Garcia rose to prominence after entering as a housemate on the first part of the second special season of ABS-CBN’s reality show Pinoy Big Brother (2015), for which she received the title of “Daldal Darling ng Australia” (Lit. Talkative Darling of Australia) and finished first runner-up to Jimboy Martin.
Ylona Jade Navalle Garcia was born on February 28, 2002, in Sydney, Australia, to Filipino parents, Peter Garcia and Caridad Navalle-Garcia; both of which are practitioners in the medical field based in Australia. She is the third among five siblings. At a very young age, Garcia has performed as a front act for several Filipino singers and songwriters such as Martin Nievera, Sarah Geronimo and Rivermaya’s former lead vocalist Bamboo Mañalac during their Australian concert tours. Garcia also performed Zedd and Ariana Grande’s song “Break Free” at the Filipino Fiesta in September 2014 with a video of the performance uploaded on her YouTube channel. She has also participated in numerous singing competitions and won two notable competitions such as the Urban Star Sydney Championship in December 2014, for which she received the “Most Promising Talent” award in the same month; and Fast Track Australian Singing Competition as part of the junior division in March 2015. Garcia also finished third in the National Urban Star Competition reaping through the “Judges Choice” segment for the “Coolest Artist” and “the artist with the ‘wow’ factor.”
In 2015, Garcia auditioned to become a housemate for the first part of the second special season of ABS-CBN’s reality television series Pinoy Big Brother, where she passed after showcasing her talents in singing, acting and dancing as well for her “confidence and candid remarks.” She entered the house on the second day with Franco Rodriguez, whom was later hailed as the second runner-up; Kyle Secades and Zonia Mejia. During her time in the house, Garcia composed and recorded two songs, “Win the Fight” (2015), for which she composed and recorded with her fellow housemate Jimboy Martin; and “Magmahal Muli” (2005, lit. To Love Again), for which she recorded with her fellow housemate Bailey May; originally composed and recorded by Sam Milby and Say Alonzo from the first season of Pinoy Big Brother (2005). The songs were later featured on the extended play PBB 737 (2015) and was released on Spotify on August 9, 2015. After passing four eviction nights as a nominated housemate, she was selected as one of the four finalists after garnering 19.84% of the public vote and exited the Big Brother house on the fiftieth day, in order for the second part of the special season to commence. However, during an episode of ABS-CBN’s noontime variety series It’s Showtime! (2009), Garcia and her fellow finalists Jimboy Martin, Bailey May and Rodriguez were instructed to return to the Big Brother house. During her second time in the house, Garcia participated in the final weekly task, “Short Film Festival,” with her fellow finalists and the five remaining housemates of the second part of the second special season, and was cast in Pinoy Big Brother’s romantic comedy film Trending: Love (2015, stylized as TRENDING: LOVE), where she portrayed the fictional character Sophie Mendoza.
On August 14, 2015, Garcia participated in the Teen Power: The Kabataang Pinoy Concert Party with her former Pinoy Big Brother: 737 housemates and finalists from the first part of the second special season, as well as other teenage actors and musicians including Sharlene San Pedro and Gimme 5. On November 8, 2015, Garcia was hailed as the first runner-up to Martin during the Big Night ceremony at the Albay Astrodome in Legazpi, Albay, garnering 42.24% of the public vote. In the same month, she was cast with May as part of the extended cast of ABS-CBN’s romantic comedy television series On the Wings of Love (2015–16), where they portrayed the fictional character Audrey Olivar and Harry Fausto respectively. At the end of 2015, Star Music named Garcia as their representative for their “#SpotifySpotlight” segment in 2016.
In 2016, Ylona revealed on the musical variety television show ASAP that her debut studio album would be released “very, very, very, very soon.” On January 21, 2016, Coca-Cola announced Ylona as one of the ambassadors for their “Taste the Feeling” campaign together with Bailey May, James Reid, Nadine Lustre, Maine Mendoza, Alden Richards, Liza Soberano, Enrique Gil, Janella Salvador, and Enchong Dee. On January 31, 2016, Ylona was announced as the “Celebrity VJ” for the month of February for the music television network Myx. On February 4, 2016, Ylona was signed by Star Music. She eventually announced that her upcoming debut studio album will be released soon; hinting possibilities of her debut studio album releasing sometime during early-mid 2016. On February 23, 2016, Garcia was revealed to have been cast for Star Cinema’s upcoming horror thriller film Bloody Crayons (2016/17), where she will be portraying the fictional character of Katy.
Garcia is very close friends with Bailey May, a fellow housemate that she met inside the PBB house. They currently work together as an on-screen tandem after their successful PBB stint.
