Before Jon Avila, Rafael Rossel, Zanjoe Marudo and Andrew Wolff appeared on billboards clad only in their Bench Body underwear, there was John Hall. The Filipino-British model John is the first and original model for the then freshly-introduced underwear line of the popular fashion brand. The racy billboards and print ads which featured him exposing his muscular physique donning only those sexy underthings earned him the adoration of women and envy of men during his prime. He could have been really popular if he focused on his career that time. For some reason, however, John shied away from the limelight.

He graced Bench fashion shows and appeared in the brand’s ad campaigns, all right, but he never really set his sights on making it big. It’s as if he was content on being where he was at that particular time and was very apprehensive of getting famous. Then, slowly, he distanced himself from showbiz retreating to his native Malapascua, Cebu to be with his mother. Recently, I chanced upon some information that John is connected with an English Language Training School engaged in training prospective call center employees.