Ma. Sugar Mercado is the youngest of four siblings who along with her family lived in
Cavite. They lived in a temporary
house on top of a hog shed which was built in a tract of land owned by her grandfather. Sugar recounted that during her childhood, her family would sleep on strips of wood and that the roof over their heads would be constantly blown away during a typhoon. During her junior year in high school, she toured with the Gen. Mariano Alvarez Technical High School Band as a majorette. Later, she would join television beauty contests particularly
Eat Bulaga!'s "TV Babe" segment in 2001. Sugar lost. Nevertheless, she was signed on to join the
SexBomb Girls, an association that lasted less than a year. Sugar decided to finish her studies and three years later, she served a six-month stint with the
ABS-CBN noontime variety show
MTB: Ang Saya Saya 2002 edition. Six months later, Sugar rejoined the SexBomb Girls and Eat Bulaga!. It was during the segment Laban o Bawi that she figured in a freak mishap causing her to fall down and accidentally destroy the stage props inside the studio. Mercado's rising popularity reportedly caused a rift between the
Eat Bulaga! management and the SexBomb Girls and amid much controversy, the two parted ways. She remained and is now one of the very popular members of the show. After Eat Bulaga was renewed for a new format, she did not come back as host of the show. She has now earned enough money to build a two-story house for her family in
Cavite. She left Eat Bulaga! again, though, after some time. Besides her regular appearances in the
GMA Network sitcom Ful Haus, Mercado also performs at the Klownz and Zirkoh bars owned by fellow Eat Bulaga! member
Allan K. Mercado attended
Trinity University of Asia in
Quezon City with fellow actors
Ahron Villena,
Megan Young, Alfred Navarro, Che Tolentino, Charles Christianson, Kontin Roque,
Sophia Montecarlo,
Erich Gonzales, Alvin Aragon,
Eslove Briones,
Shey Bustamante,
Joe Vargas and Marco Aytona. She has been formerly seen on her first dramatic performance and also her first GMA Telebabad,
Zorro. On May 29, 2010, Mercado appeared on
Eat Bulaga as a celebrity contestant of Pinoy Henyo. In 2010, Mercado transferred to
TV5.
My Darling Aswang was her first show on with her former
Ful Haus co-star Vic Sotto and Jose Manalo, and her recent show,
Midnight DJ. In 2011, Mercado was part of
Willing Willie (now changed to
Wil Time Bigtime) with former
Wowowee host
Willie Revillame. In 2017, she appeared in
Hay, Bahay! and in
Wowowin after 5 years of hiatus in showbiz. In 2020, Mercado guested in various GMA Network shows such as
The Boobay and Tekla Show and
Mars Pa More. On May 30, 2025, Mercardo was crowned Mrs. Universe Philippines and will compete at
Mrs. Universe 2025 in Manila in October. ==Personal life==