Bautista received his career break when he became a grand finalist on the Philippine reality TV talent search Star for a Night where he placed third behind Sarah Geronimo.
[citation needed] He joined a band called Voizemale which did various gigs in Cagayan de Oro, mostly covering popular hits of Earth, Wind & Fire and Backstreet Boys.
He became a regular performer on Party Pilipinas, made a cameo appearance in Diva and had a lead role in a primetime drama series.
[2][3] In July 2011, he, along with other Kapuso artists such as Iza Calzado (who later transferred to ABS-CBN) and Aljur Abrenica, performed for the Kababayan Fest held in Northern and Southern California.
In the same year, he performed as Crisóstomo Ibarra in the stage musical Noli Me Tángere, an adaptation of José Rizal's novel of the same name by composer Ryan Cayabyab and librettist Bienvenido Lumbera.
As of 2014, Bautista is currently performing in the musical Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim at the Royal National Theatre in London where he plays the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
[9] Through his self-authored memoir titled Beyond the Mark, Bautista opened up about the challenges he experienced after revealing in February 2018 that he is bisexual.