Demetrio Santanga, Michael Bublé’s Grandfather: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know


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Demetrio Santanga is the late grandfather of four-time Grammy Award winner Michael Bublé.

Demetrio Santanga is the late grandfather of four-time Grammy Award winner Michael Bublé. Bublé is being featured on Monday’s edition of HGTV’s Celebrity IOU, after he asked Jonathan and Drew Scott to help him redo his grandfather’s house for his former caretaker, Minette.

When his grandparents started getting older, Bublé and his sisters hired Minette as their caretaker instead of putting them in a nursing home. As Bublé recalled, his grandfather was not happy about having a stranger come into his house. But after spending more than eight years as his caretaker, Minette grew to become one of Santanga’s closest friends and an extended part of the Bublé family.

Bublé surprised Minette by not only gifting her his grandfather’s house, but also updating it. With the help of the Scott brothers, the 1970s home was modernized with a high-end kitchen that includes a waterfall island and a brand new fireplace. The living room area that used to have plastic covering the couches was transformed into a warm dining area where Minette can now entertain her family and friends.

“My grandpa used to say that the most selfish thing you could ever do was to give, because nothing felt as good,” Bublé said. “So this is a really selfish act that we’re pulling here. Minette never does anything for herself, and I think my grandpa would be thrilled knowing we could maybe lessen her burden a little bit and continue having Minette help her family.”

To find out more about Bublé’s special relationship with his grandfather, continue reading below for five fast facts:


1. Michael Bublé’s Grandfather Was His Hero

The singer’s best friend growing up was his grandpa. “He was my hero,” Bublé said. “My grandfather was my best friend growing up… We had this bond over music and sports. I just loved talking to him. I really looked up to him my whole life and I miss him.”

As he got older, their relationship continued to grow stronger. “I would grab a couple of coffees and visit my best friend–and that’s my grandfather,” Bublé told the Scott brothers. “He would play me his old records.” He introduced him to legendary singers like Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald.

Bublé recalled how his grandfather would ask him to learn a few new songs each time they saw each other. “He would say to me, “Grandpa’s an old man. He’s going to die soon. Could you please just learn these three songs for me before I go,” Bublé said. “So I would learn them and sing for him and we’d sing together and he got his way. I learned thousands of songs. I miss him every day.”

Bublé said the “greatest moments of my life happened” in his gradfather’s living room. “We would sit cross legged and he would literally play me all these great old songs and old records,” he said. “What’s really funny is he was really hard of hearing at the end so he would play it really loud, but what he’d always forget was that he’d connected this system to speakers outside. So he’d just be blasting me 24/7 outside for the neighborhood.”


2. Michael Bublé’s Grandfather Would be Thrilled About Giving Minette The Home

Bublé described Minette as a selfless person who is always trying to give back. “Minette doesn’t keep any of the money that she’s made. She’s got family in the Philippines and she sends it all back. She’s really a special, beautiful woman. My grandpa would be so happy,” he said. “This is his dream.”

The home is special for Bublé, too. His grandfather built the home himself and he spent a lot of time at the Vancouver house as a kid. “I spent almost every day here,” he said, adding he would mow the lawn every Thursday. “The bay window has a chip in it because I ran over a rock and I never told him,” the star said with a laugh.

When the brothers said it was probably bittersweet to be giving the home to Minette so she never had to pay rent again, Bublé agreed. “Yeah. You can imagine the sentimentality here. Although I’m happy it stays in our family, it’s hard,” he said. “It’s a killer.”


3. Minette Acknowledged The Close Relationship Bublé Had With His Grandfather

It was clear just how close of a relationship Bublé and Santanga had. “Those two, they were kinda cut from the same umbilical cord,” Minette said. “Even if he travels around the world on tour, he would FaceTime them before the concert starts and he’d asked grandpa, ‘What song do you want me to sing?’ That’s how close they were.”

For Minette, Bublé is just a regular person–a part of her family. “The first time I met Michael, as soon as I came in we went straight to the kitchen and made some salad. So that’s the Michael that I know,” she said with a laugh. “Not big Michael as a star.”

Bublé said Minette became a part of the family “almost instantly.” “My grandfather didn’t really want anyone here, but Minette was a perfect match and my grandfather went from a little bit resentful to absolutely becoming one of her best friends,” he said.

Minette said it took some time but she and Santanga were able to develop trust. “We got along so well because we had so much in common. He loved music, food. He loved wine too. I love wine, who doesn’t, so there you go,” she said.


4. It Was Important For Santanga To Have His Home Stay in the Family

It was an easy decision for Bublé and his sisters to give the home to Minette. “My grandfather had a couple of things he hoped for. One of them was that this house would stay in the family,” he said.

Santanga wanted to honor Minette, someone who never did anything for herself. “He also wanted his legacy to live on and part of that, he really hoped Minette could live here. Here was this really compassionate, kind, empathetic human being with a great sense of humor, a great zest for life,” Bublé said. “Every cent she made she sent back home to her family. I think my grandpa would be thrilled knowing we could lessen the burden a little bit and allow Minette to continue to help her family without it being so hard on her.”

Bublé was going to try to renovate the place himself, but he knew the Scott brothers would do a great job. “Having a history with the boys, it being so natural and organic, it was just the perfect match,” he said.


5. Minette Was ‘Overwhelmed’ When She Saw The Home For The First Time

Bublé had to lie to Minette to get the project done secretly. While she was in the Philippines for three weeks to visit family, the Scott brothers worked on the home. Bublé and his family told Minette they were doing a documentary about singer and his grandfather and she begrudingly agreed to be in it, even though she doesn’t like being in front of the camera.

When Bublé told her the truth was that he had redone the house for her, she was shocked. “I have no words right now. It hasn’t sunken in yet. It’s beautiful,” she said. “Grandpa, thank you so much.”

She thanked Bublé too. “Even beyond, wherever he is, he’s still thinking through you,” Minette said. “No words can come out right now. But it is everything. It’s just amazing. Right now I’m feeling overwhelmed over everything because I’m not expecting this. …and probably I’m going to have a dozen of my family members come over. Now!”

Bublé was excited for her to host holidays with her family, esepcially Christmas, which is a big holiday in the Philippines. “I got my early Christmas,” she said. Minette thanked Bublé and added, “you know I love you already.”

To see how the Scott brothers helped transform the home of Bublé’s late grandfather, don’t miss Celebrity IOU when it airs Monday at 9 p.m. ET on HGTV.

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