Some of the weekend variety show ASAP mainstays were visibly moved during a heartfelt video message from its former director Johnny Manahan, including the original host Martin Nievera.

In an exclusive interview with PUSH ABS-CBN, Martin revealed why he became emotional.

“Well, the humble beginnings of ASAP hindi naman malalaman ng mga bagets, hindi naman malalaman yung mga bagong stars because we made it so easy for them to come into ASAP and become superstars. Sa panahon namin ni Johnny (Manahan) and Pops (Fernandez) and Ariel (Rivera) and Dayanara (Torres), we didn't know what we were doing, we didn't know how we would be accepted, kung anong gagawin namin, na wala pang The Filipino Channel,” he recalled.

He continued to share how there were some challenges along the way, with successes and setbacks, as well as other struggles behind the scenes.

“Ang alam namin lang, magpapalit kami ng isang show, ng APO (Hiking Society) show. Kasi walang show sa time slot ng Sunday afternoon. So we were experimenting together with Johnny. We were hit and miss, some things were good, some things were bad. Wala pa kami ng teleprompters. We were doing full songs, hindi katulad ngayon na may four lines ako, four lines si Gary (Valenciano), four lines si ganyan. Before, we were doing full songs and full dance numbers.” he shared.

The OPM hitmaker shared how they’ve stuck together through thick and thin.

“We were all doing things for each other. Wala kaming katulad ngayon. May maraming production people, 'di ba? So, ibig sabihin, yung struggle ng ASAP, hindi malalaman ng iba kung hindi si Johnny Manahan, si Mam Mariole (Alberto), all the writers before, si Noel Ferrer, si Victor all of the people who started our show Sir Deo (Endrinal), they were the ones who conceptualized ASAP, what kind of show do they want a show where anything is possible and to entertain,” he noted.

Martin continued by sharing how ASAP paved the way for superstars and played a key role in their growth.

"It sounds easy now dahil sa social media. Madali ngayon eh. Pero back then, wala kaming social media, wala kaming mga cellphone, wala kaming Facebook, wala kaming Instagram, wala kaming TikTok. None of that existed. Back then, you really had to promote hard. You really had to study your songs. You became a sensation. You became a superstar by coming out on ASAP, not on social media. Not overnight success, (but) many, many Sundays of hard work, of promos, until sisikat ka, or hindi. Depende sa'yo.” he emphasized.

He also expressed his hope that the new generation of artists would come to appreciate the show more deeply and understand its significance.

"I hope that the new superstars, the new artists of today, can appreciate how, not naman easy, I don't want to say it's easy, but I want them to appreciate where they are today and enjoy their fame and enjoy their careers, and know that everything is temporary. Look how hard we worked to pave the way before social media came to help. We didn't have the help that they have today."