Marian wasn’t able to finish taping “Endless Love” last Monday as she started throwing up, looking so pale and wan. Because of this, her taping for “Show Me Da Manny” in Singapore this weekend was postponed. The doctor says she got contracted amoebiasis. “I still feel weak but I can’t afford to get sick kasi we have to resume taping “Endless Love” kasi we don’t have too many advanced episodes in stock,” she says. “Isa pa, mas masalimuot na ang story ngayon. Dennis Trillo proposes marriage to me even if he knew na si Dingdong Dantes ang real love ko, na ikakasal naman kay Bella Padilla. Also, gusto na kong ampunin uli specially ni Sandy Andolong para malayos na ko sa ina kong si Janice de Belen.”
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WE SAW Director Dominic Zapata recently and told her: “Kinasal na siya at pregnant na”. We’re referring to Krista Ranillo, his girlfriend of six years. It’s rumored that he even financed her college education at the Ateneo. “Oo nga, e,” he says. “Let’s just happy for them and wish them well.”
What’s his next project now that “Diva” has ended? “Grazilda or The Other Cinderella. Kasama rito sina Glaiza de Castro, newcomers Gwen Zamora and Jannine Cruz, daughter of Tirso, and the comebacking Yasmien Kurdi, with Geoff Eigenmann, Dominic Roco, Steff Prescott, Joel Torre, Rio Locsin and Cherie Gil.”
“Grazilda” will be replacing “Pilyang Kerubin” on GMA Telebabad.
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NANETTE INVENTOR first gained fame in 1983 doing standup comedy as Donya Buding. Now, nearly 3 decades later, she plays another filthy rich character in “Ang Yaman ni Lola”, the new telesitcom-reality game show that replaces “Daisysiete” after “Eat Bulaga” from Monday to Friday. Produced by News and Public Affairs that also handled “Extra Challenge” before, she’s Lola Barbie, a former housemaid who marries the son of her rich “amo” but remained childless. She inherits all the family’s wealth so she decides to share her riches by holding a contest each week for real people who then tries to outdo each other in their assigned challenges inside her fabulous villa in Pampanga. For the show’s first week, her guests will be housemaids or kasambahays. For the second week, it will be beauty parlor workers and, on the third week, cargadors. People from various professions will be invited later. As they try to outsmart each other, someone gets eliminated each day until the last man standing wins a prize of P100,000.
Lola Barbie’s kind gesture is resisted by the family’s lawyer, Kimberly Cabagnot (Sheryl Cruz), who wants to inherits Lola’s fortune intact. She makes life miserable for the contestants. Also in the cast are Benjie Paras as Benjo, Sheryl’s henpecked husband who’s a former cager turned movie star and now househusband to their two kids, Joyce Ching and Aaron Novilla; and Patricia Ysmael as the mayordoma and Fabio Ide as the handyman-driver. “Boytoy ko rin pero di ko pinapatulan,” says Nanette, who doesn’t mind playing “lola” since she’s one in real life. “I have three apos in the U.S. who I visit every year.”
“Ang Yaman ni Lola” starts airing this Monday and promises to give a refreshing alternative to all the afternoon teleseryes so common nowadays. Since it’s produced by News and not by Entertainment, which one pays higher between the two? “Pareho lang,” Nanette says, to which Sheryl and Benjie quickly concur.
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WE DON’T KNOW why some folks say that a new John Lloyd Cruz-Sarah Geronimo movie is a remote possibility. It’s said Sarah is disappointed with John Lloyd for he chose Shaina Magdayao over her in real life. Another camp says it’s John Lloyd who’s sulking because Sarah chided Lloydie in a TV interview for promising to take care of her but he didn’t keep true to his word. We’ve just talked to a local producer and we’re told they’re trying to get the lucrative Valentine Day playdate for next year, but they were informed it’s already been reserved for Star Cinema who aims to release the third and final edition of the John Lloyd-Sarah trilogy of love stories. Sarah’s “Hating Kapatid” might have done well at the box office, but we’re told it still failed to top the box office gross of her two films with Lloydie, “A Very Special Love” that raked in P180 million and “You Changed My Life” that grossed more than P210 million. With such revenues, how can Star Cinema resist not making another sequel?
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RIGHT AFTER the screening of “In Your Eyes”, which is also a bonafide hit and got a B rating from the Cinema Evaluation Board, all eyes were turned to Raymart Santiago. Did he he feel jealous while watching the hot love scenes of Claudine Barretto with Richard Gutierrez? “While it was being show, Claudine was trying to cover my eyes at sabi ko, ‘Ano ba? Nanonood ako!’ I didn’t see anything wrong with it naman,” he says. “Kinilig nga ako sa kanila at nalimutan kong asawa ko nga pala ang kasama ni Richard sa eksena. Galing ako sa pamilya ng mga artista, so alam kong part lang yun ng trabaho niya.”
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EUGENE DOMINGO was the featured star in “The Story of Your Life” segment of “Showbiz Central” to promote her film “Mamarazzi” and new sitcom “Jejemom”. Her UP friends and colleagues like Tony Mabesa, Alex Cortez, Andoy Ranay and Peter Serrano all attested to her talent even during her college days in Dulaang UP. Theatre actress Frances Makil Ignacio (best known for “Atang”) even appeared live on the show to congratulate Eugene for her success now. We just notice that no relative or family member of Eugene was included in the flashback portions that pay tribute to her, unlike in the case of other stars whose parents and siblings were interviewed. Is Eugene an orphan or her relatives don’t care that much for her?
