The romantic comedy centers around two people — Clark, a boy living his American life, and Leah, a simple girl with an American dream, who are forced to marry in order to legally stay and continue working in the United States.
The show ended on February 26, 2016, and this episode was divided into two parts: a recorded segment and followed by a live viewing party in Ynares Center, Antipolo. It was also simulcasted live on ABS-CBN and worldwide on The Filipino Channel.[3][4]
Plot
Leah Olivar (Nadine Lustre) grew up in a very poor, but happy family. When she was 12 years old, her mother, Rona (Isay Alvarez), went to the United States to work towards a better future for their family. Life eventually becomes better for Leah, her sister, Tiffany (Bianca Manalo), and their father, Sol (Joel Torre). However, a tragedy changes their lives forever. For Leah, Rona's death creates a desire for her to go to America and fulfill her mother's "American dream".
Ten years later, this dream comes true as Leah gets her visa to compete in a choir competition in San Francisco, California. After the contest, Leah extends her stay in San Francisco with the intention of visiting her mother's grave, and finding a way to legally work in the United States. However, to Leah's surprise, her mother's grave was nowhere to be found, and as her visa expires, finding a job that would allow her to remain in the United States also becomes elusive.
With the urging of Jack (Cherry Pie Picache), the mother of Leah's ex-boyfriend, Jigs (Albie Casiño), and out of desperation, Leah agrees to a marriage of convenience so that she could get her visa. But with Leah's limited resources, it will be hard for Jack to find her a partner. The only suitable person that would agree to the small amount that Leah is willing to pay is Jack's nephew, Clark (James Reid), who has been living in San Francisco for the past 11 years. His life has been full of heartbreaks since he went to the United States with his mother, Ofelia (Katya Santos), to be introduced to his American father, Kenneth. Soon after, Kenneth refuses to recognize Clark as his son, and Ofelia then suddenly dies. Clark gets placed in foster homes, where he is regularly abused. Later, because of his love for his siblings in the Philippines, Clark persevered and managed to survive life in the U.S. These misfortunes and responsibilities in life deprived Clark of romantic love.
Despite their disastrous first meeting, Leah and Clark spend time as a fake couple and learn about each other's past, quirks and habits, in order to pass the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) interview. As time passes, Leah and Clark discover a certain fondness for each other. They also realize that they both have the same goal in life and that is to make a better life for their families.
They also start to sympathize with each other, as both reveal their deepest secrets. Soon, the sham marriage between Leah and Clark becomes real.
On the Wings of Love was the brainchild of Coco Martin based on his experiences as an OFW in Canada. The concept was originally supposed to be a movie starring Martin and superstar Nora Aunor but she turned down the role of Martin's mother as she was busy doing other projects.[5] The film with Martin and Aunor would eventually be released in 2016 under the title Padre de Familia, starring Martin and Aunor.[6] This concept would again be revisited by Martin in his 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival entry, Labyu with an Accent.[7]
With the film's release then uncertain, the concept was turned into a teleserye which necessitated a change in the female lead to co-star with Martin. Judy Ann Santos was approached to be Martin's leading lady. Santos, however, turned down the offer due to unexpected pregnancy. Sarah Geronimo was also approached for the role of leading lady but also had to turn down the offer due to scheduling conflicts. Martin also ended up being busy with his teleserye, Ang Probinsyano.[5]
Finally, the roles were given to James Reid and Nadine Lustre which marks their first lead roles in a teleserye as they signed exclusive contracts with ABS-CBN.[5]
Originally, the role of Jiggs was to be played by Arjo Atayde.[8] Atayde's casting has gone as far as the look test when he was pulled out of the show to play Joaquin Tuazon, the main antagonist of Ang Probinsyano.[8]Albie Casiño would eventually bag the role of Jiggs.[8]
Soundtrack
In March 2015, R&B singer Kyla recorded two cover versions of the series' eponymous theme song originally sung by Jeffrey Osborne and later covered by Regine Velasquez. The original version and its music video was released on May 16, 2015, via YouTube,[1] while the alternate version is a piano cover.
The theme song's original version is also part of the volume one of Dreamscape Televisions of Love album and Kyla's 15th anniversary compilation album My Very Best.[9][10]
In an episode, Clark (character of James Reid) pretends to arrest, handcuff and blindfold his wife Leah (character of Nadine Lustre). Leah was shocked that her husband Clark was dancing while wearing a police uniform. Later on, a scene was made to show how they were sorry for making the police feel offended about the scene.[23]
On March 13, 2020, it was announced that On the Wings of Love will be rerun, temporarily taking over the timeslot of Make It with You from March 16, 2020 as part of the temporary programming changes on ABS-CBN due to the community quarantine caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[25]
Reruns of the show's episodes began airing on PIE Channel (BEAM TV subchannel) on August 22, 2022, from 12:00 pm to 12:45 pm from Mondays to Fridays, and from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Saturdays.
