IT STARTED with a long-awaited UAAP championship. It ended with a return to the Philippines after a cut-short Taiwan league stint.
Ricci Rivero has emerged as the most Googled male celebrity of 2022 in the search giant’s annual list of top search terms in the Philippines, following an eventful year in his life that touched everything from politics to love life to showbiz to, of course, sports.
“2022 indeed is a memorable year for my basketball career and personal life,” he told PEP.ph. “I am both surprised and humbled that a lot has been with me in my [journey]. Kung ano man po ang dahilan ng inyong pagsubaybay, paghanga man o pagpuna, maraming salamat po sa oras na inyong binigay. Looking forward for a better 2023 for me and for all of us.”
After a year-end announcement in 2021 that he would quit his showbiz career to start “focusing on basketball,” Rivero did just that. He helped the UP Fighting Maroons win their Season 84 men’s basketball crown — the school’s first in 36 years.
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On the way, he got into some hot water for political commentary on Twitter, got targeted by an unsportsmanlike order from the UE coach, raised P200,000 for jeepney drivers of the UP campus, then asked Andrea Brillantes to be his girlfriend in a courtside proposal that trended on social media.
After his UAAP championship, Rivero was snapped up by the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots of the Taiwan P.League+.
But it was a stint that was cut short even before the league blew its first whistle of the season because of a lingering knee injury.
Ricci Rivero joins Warriors, Wordle, Deanna Wong in Google list
In its sports category, the Warriors nabbed three of the top five Google searches of the year, with “Warriors vs. Celtics”, “Warriors vs. Mavericks”, and “Grizzlies vs. Warriors” taking the number one, two, and five slots, respectively.
Deanna Wong is the number three most searched female celebrity in the Philippines of 2022, following Amber Heard and Kris Aquino.
Meanwhile, Wordle, Axie Infinity, and Arceus X topped the gaming categories.
On the male celebrities list, sports figures Juancho Hernangomez and Jordan Clarkson joined Ricci, at number six and number eight, respectively.