CARLA Abellana is very honest in admitting she’s just waiting for Tom Rodriguez to propose to her as she’s really willing to settle down since she’s in her early 30s and her biological clock is ticking.
“Yes, we’re not getting any younger and people keep on asking us kung kailan ang wedding namin,” she says. “But what can I say? Hindi pa naman nagpo-propose si Tom sa akin. So, maghintay na lang tayo.”
Carla is so happy because her new show with Tom, “Love of My Life,” is doing really well in the ratings game. Among the new shows that just started on the Kapuso channel, it’s the one that is doing very well in the surveys and clobbering its competitor in the ratings.
“Lahat kami sa show, we’re all thankful nagustuhan agad ng viewing public ang ‘Love of My Life’ at consistent ang aming high viewership, so thank you po sa lahat ng sumusuporta sa amin gabi-gabi,” says Carla.
Last week, the show became much more engrossing as Isabella (Coney Reyes) has discovered her son, Stefano (Tom), is afflicted with a terminal illness. The acting of Tom and Coney in that scene where he finally admits to his mom his condition is splendid and the whole scene is a tearjerker. The comments of viewers on social media are all superlative: “Sobrang nakakaiyak! Tumatagos sa puso!” “Very affecting kasi ang gagaling nilang lahat. Coney, Tom and Carla. They’re all very good in their respective roles and in their crying scenes. So very real!”
In real life, it’s common knowledge that it’s not Tom who got sick but Carla. How did Tom feel when Carla experienced some serious health issues last year?
“Siempre, sobrang nag-alala ako, but I really admire her when she admitted to the public that she had tachycardia, hypothyroidism and wrong diagnosis that nearly damaged her liver,” he says. “She helps bridge the gap with other people who might have the same kind of ailments and feel so alone. They know now na hindi lang sila ang mayroon nito and they can get the right kind of treatment. She serves as an inspiration to other sick people. I really admire for having such great courage when she went through that health crisis. I told her naman I will just always be here for her to lean on.”
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Jane Oineza is Regal Entertainment’s favorite actress. Lately, she has done more films with Regal than with her home network, ABS-CBN. She was in Regal’s “Haunted Forest,” “Finding You” and “Ang Henerasyong Sumuko sa Love.” Now, she starts off 2020 playing the romantic leading lady in Regal’s offering for the love month of February, “Us Again,” opposite RK Bagatsing, directed by newbie filmmaker Joy Aquino.
The movie is about the risks people take when they fall in love. The poster and the trailer of the film ask the vital and valid question: “Ang dalawang taong nagmahal kahit mali, umasa kahit imposible. Maging sila kaya hanggang sa huli?”
“‘Us Again’ is not the usual romantic film with familiar characters,” says Jane. “The characters are so complicated and I want to thank Regal for giving us the chance ni RK to work again with each other. Nagkatrabaho na kami before in a teleserye sa ‘Araw Gabi,’ but this is our first film together. I play Margie, a medical technician whose dream is to be a doctor pero hindi natuloy. RK is Mike, a struggling artist. We meet and had an affair which we thought was perfect, but we eventually realized it’s a mistake so we called it quits. Then five years later, we meet again and we ask ourselves if we could be us again. Have we learned from the mistakes we made in the past? Or is it too late to start all over again?”
In real life, does Jane believe in second chances and has she ever experienced being “Us Again” with a estranged lover? “Ako naman, hangga’t kaya ko, I’m willing to give another chance to an erring love. But pag sobrang ginagago ka na and he keeps on doing the same mistakes, I think it’s only right that you should stop and give more focus and importance to yourself. At ako, kapag natapos na, wala nang ‘Us Again.’ Wala pa akong ex na binalikan ko.”
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Aicelle Santos feels fortunate to be chosen as one of the judges of GMA-7’s new reality talent search, “Centerstage,” that had an auspicious start last Sunday. “I myself was discovered in a singing contest, so whatever experiences I gained when I was a contestant in ‘Pinoy Pop Superstar,’ puede kong i-share sa mga kasaling bata ngayon dito sa ‘Centerstage.’”
She says her job as a judge in “Centerstage,” along with co-judges Pops Fernandez and musical director Mel Villena, can actually be quite difficult.
“Kasi nga mga bata ang involved,” she stresses. “You can’t judge giving a truthful assessment of their performances kasi baka masaktan sila. We don’t want to traumatize them, we want to continue encouraging them.”
How does Pops and Mel feel about it? “Sabi nga namin nina Miss Pops and Kuya Mel, we want the experience to still be enjoyable for them. We also want to convey that if they lost, it doesn’t mean na ending na ng career nila. Kasi ako, natalo rin ako sa ‘Star in a Million’ sa kabila, before I joined ‘Pinoy Pop Superstar’ sa GMA-7 kunsaan nakabawi ako. So you don’t just give up your dreams and your career that easily.”
And eventually, Aicelle was also discovered in musical theater. Locally, she did the hit “Rak of Aegis” and “Himala, The Musical,” while internationally, she played the coveted role of Gigi in “Miss Saigon.” Aicelle tied the knot officially with Mark Zambrano in a garden wedding in Batangas last November, after they had a long-distance relationship while Aicelle is in Europe performing in “Miss Saigon.” So how’s married life?
“We’re happy. But oh, I discovered my husband can sing pala and he really enjoys singing nonstop. He actually sings so much more at home than I do, kaya tuwang-tuwa ako. May in-upload nga akong video niya singing ‘I Swear,’ panoorin nyo sa YouTube.”
Do they have plans of having a baby soon?
“It’s all up to the Lord. Okay lang kung agad-agad kasi 34 na ko. At mas okay sana kung twins agad ang ibibigay sa amin para double blessing din agad.”
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Isabel Rivas was launched in 1981 as a sexy star in “Uhaw na Dagat” by the late director Celso Ad. Castillo. She is now overjoyed to get to work with Nora Aunor in GMA-7’s “Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit.”
“Nang sabihin nila sa’king si Ate Guy ang makakasama ko, tapos, si Laurice Guillen pa ang director, sabi ko agad, yes, yes, okay ako, gagawin ko ‘yan,” she says. “I got so excited ni hindi ko na tinanong kung magkano ang TF ko at kung ano ang role ko. Just the thought na makakatrabaho ko these two women na sobrang nirerespeto sa industriya, sapat na sa’kin.”
She does not mind playing contravida to Ate Guy and was very careful in her catfight scene with her. “Sa kuwento kasi, gusto kong kamkamin ang lupa nilang grape vineyards so pinasunog ko at pinapatay ko ang asawa niya, si Ricky Davao. Nang magpunta kami sa wake nito, big confrontation scene na nauwi sa pisikalan. Nagsabunutan kami, sampalan. Siempre, ingat na ingat ako. Ayoko namang masaktan si Ate Guy.
