People tend to say that when there’s smoke, there’s fire because it’s easy to deny the separation rumors if they aren’t true.
LOOKS like it’s the season of breakups as so many showbiz couples are rumored to have gone their separate ways: Richard Gutierrez-Sarah Lahbati, Daniel Padilla-Kathryn Bernardo, Kim Chiu-Xian Lim, Janine Gutierrez-Paulo Avelino, Elijah Canlas-Miles Ocampo, Kris Aquino-Mark Leviste.
In Richard and Sarah’s case, netizens are bothered about their reported split up. They met in 2012 when they were paired in the series “Makapiling Kang Muli.” Sarah was a “Starstruck winner.” She was 18 years old and Richard, 10 years older.
After the show, they went to Switzerland, where Sarah was born and raised. It turned out she was already pregnant. She gave birth to Zion on April 29, 2013; Kai was born 5 years later, March 21, 2018.
Richard and Sarah tied the knot in March 2020.
Showbiz pundits say there’s probably truth to the rumor that their marriage is kaput. “Ang dali-dali namang i-deny kung hindi totoong hiwalay na sila,” says one showbiz old timer.
“But the fact remains na walang nagsasalita sa kanila, even Richard’s mom, Annabelle Rama, na normally ay nagsalita na kung totoong intact pa rin ang marriage ni Richard with Sarah.”
One netizen wrote directly to the couple: “Richard and Sarah, I love your family. I always enjoy looking at your family pictures and videos. But lately, obvious na may problema kayo because you no longer post your pictures together. I feel so sad. All I can is pray to God na sana magkaayos pa kayo.”
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Michelle Vito was part of ABS-CBN Star Magic Circle 2013 where she was launched along with Liza Soberano, Julia Barretto, and Janella Salvador. They were just teenagers then.
She is now 26 years old and currently playing the role of a young single mother in the new GMA-7 primetime drama series, “Lovers/Liars,” co-produced with Regal Entertainment.
“Some people think na lumipat na ako sa GMA but, hindi po, sa Regal po ako may kontrata,” she clarified. “But I’m really so thankful na sa dami ng mga artista, ako ang napili nilang isama sa ‘Lovers/Liars’ na big drama project kasi comeback ito ni Miss Claudine Barretto.”
The show is quite daring but she says she will not be required to do any provocative love scenes. “Hindi ko pa po kaya. Minsan pa lang ang nakipag-kissing scene, with Enzo Pineda (her boyfriend now). Pero wala sa usapan noon na tototohanin niya, dapat daya lang.
Tapos, tinotoo niya. Hindi ko pa siya boyfriend noon. Siguro, eventually, I might do it, but the project would have to be really worth it.”
Her boyfriend Enzo Pineda used to be with GMA-7 as a winner in “Starstruck.” What did he say when “Lovers/Liars” was offered to her? “Okay naman sa kanya kasi ang last show ko pa sa ABS-CBN was in 2020 pa, ‘Bagong Umaga.’ Noong may pandemic, wala talaga, so I’m just so happy to be back acting before the cameras again.”
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Viva Films continues giving breaks to young and new filmmakers. The latest one is Christian Paolo Lat, a Pinoy filmmaker whose family migrated from San Pedro, Laguna to Ottawa, Canada when he was in his early teens.
He then returned to the Philippines to study at the International Academy of Film and TV in Cebu. He went to Los Angeles and found work as an actor-director in UrbanFlix and the network of the clothing brand FUBU. He made his first full-length feature this year, “Ginhawa,” an entry in the Cinemalaya Film Festival.
The 30-year-old Lat’s first movie for Viva is “Sugar Baby” about girls for hire and their sugar daddies. It stars Azi Acosta, Robb Guinto, Jeffrey Hidalgo and Mon Mendoza.
“I want to thank Viva for assembling an amazing cast for my first movie with them,” he said at the press con. “They brought to life on screen the characters I have in mind when I wrote the script. It’s a great ensemble and we had good team work. It was exciting to work with them dahil mababait lahat sila. It’s now streaming on Vivamax and it’s number one so please watch it.”
