The TikToker opens up about his life experiences, the challenges they have faced, and how he fiercely overcame it.

Gayness at its Finest with Dior Veneracion is a podcast that encourages you to choose yourself and to be yourself. Dior takes us with him as he shares anecdotes from his life experiences with the hopes to impart advice and lessons to his listeners.

In its first episode, Dior shares that even as a young child he has felt the support of his family and never felt like he was judged for the way that he is. But once he reached high school, he was bullied because of his appearance and his gender.

After joining a pageant in their school and winning the title, he gained confidence and started to take care of himself more by investing in his appearance. Dior shares how he chose to appear more masculine in order to gain other people’s respect.

“As in tinago ko na yung feminine side ko; yung pagiging bakla ko. Kasi feeling ko, whenever nagtitigas-tigasan ako, yung mga tao mas sineseryoso ako.”

He also shares how he found his strength in singing and theatre in this episode. Dior shared that he was happy to be accepted in various talent agencies as being a performer helped shape him to be the best version of the person that he is today.

“I joined the agency and I [was] so happy that I got in. As in, nakapasok ako. And that time, I’m living my dream kasi I get to perform for a lot of people.”

Dior and his family life

Dior also invites guests to his podcast, and for one episode he talks to his youngest brother Christian (lovingly nicknamed “Ep”), to ask for Ep’s opinions on the gay community.

In this episode, Dior asks his brother how it feels to have a gay sibling, if he has gay friends, and many more questions. It is nothing short of endearing to tune in to the dynamic that these two have!

“Ang sarap sa pakiramdam na, parang, kung sino ako dati—even before coming out—kung paano nila ako nakikita as somone na brusco, kung paano nila ako nakikita [noong] ‘di pa ako [out], up until now Kuya parin tawag nila [sa akin].”

It is easy to see that Dior holds his family close to his heart. He also has an episode where he talks about how he had stepped up to be his family’s Father Figure, since he and his siblings were raised by a single mom.

“‘Yung pagiging bakla [does not make you] less of a person. Dahil sa pagiging bakla ko, grabe yung strength, grabe yung pagiging brawny ko sa lahat ng sitwasyon.”

He expressed his feelings about his absent father, how he took care of and watched out for his siblings in the house and at school, and took performing gigs and applied for jobs to help earn money.

“It’s something I can be proud of na parang, at a young age I got this sense of responsibility na I developed within myself. ‘Yung sense of urgency na-develop ko dahil umalis yung tatay ko.”

Having always wanted to be a part of the entertainment industry, Dior also boosted his social media profiles by making content and got small brands to trust him and pay him to promote them.

Now being a content creator, he is happy doing what he loves all the while helping his family. As of writing, he has 2.2 million followers on TikTok, with 93.7 million likes.

Tune in every Wednesday and Saturday, only on Spotify.

Gayness at its Finest with Dior Veneracion is among the five new podcasts co-produced by Podcast Network Asia and Spotify. The other podcasters are Esnyr Ranollo, Mitch B, DJ Joelle, and Ivan de Guzman so make sure to follow and listen to them as well!