Agot and Husband Manu, part ways?

MANU SANDEJAS used to be more identified as the hubby of Agot Isidro. He’s now slowly making a name for himself as a TV host. He used to host a show on Studio 23 about the latest in digital technology but he’s now co-hosting “Astig” with Chiqui Roa on Studio 5, shown Saturdays at 3pm. This is nearer his heart as it’s about sports. Manu finished communication arts at University of Asia and the Pacific. Born on May 3, 1971, he doesn’t at all look 39 with his boyish good looks. He’s the 4th of 6 kids. The second is Paco, husband of Christine Jacob. Two siblings have passed, one due to leukemia and the other in a car crash. How come he didn’t get into showbiz earlier? “I was into advertising for 15 years. I retired 3 years ago and put up my own bicycle shop, Knobbies, at Katipunan Avenue near White Plains. We specialize on mountain bikes. I didn’t really pursue hosting. It was offered to me, like ‘Astig’.” See, Agot Isidro denies rumor she and husband Manu Sandejas broke up.

He likes “Astig” as it highlights the struggles of aspiring athletes and the real life drama in their lives as they experience defeat and victory. He’s very proud of their coverage of the football players of Barotac, Iloilo, considered the country’s football capital, with players ranging from their teens to 50 year olds. Future episodes will focus on dragon boat racing, surfing in Siargao, local rugby, and taekwondo featuring the three pretty female champs who won in Southeast Asian Games. There’s a rumor that Manu and Agot have split but he denies it. “Astig” is one of the seven public affairs shows launched by TV5. The others are “Alagang Kapatid” offering health services hosted by Cheryl Cosim, “Oplan Zero Tambay” giving jobs to tambays hosted by Raffy Tulfo, Tech Trip about gadgets and trends hosted by KC Mongtero, Lia Cruz and Abby Asistio, Luchi Cruz Valdes’ “Journo” with compelling news stories and investigations, “Dokumentado” with Martin Andanar and “Public Atorni” with Atty. Persida Acosta. More about them later.

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PRINCE STEFAN is very happy with the positive feedback he got when he bared his torso at the recent Cosmo Bash andin his sexy pictorial for X Ray Magazine. “I did it to show there’s another side of me,” he says at the presscon of “Bantatay”, shown before “24 Oras”, where he plays Calvin, a rich guy who tries to win Jennica Garcia, the blind owner of the dog in the story named Bantay.

Does he really have a sugar mommy, a boutique owner whose shop has closed after he milked her dry? “Not true. I do have a friend, Keng Gutierrez, who used to own a boutique at SM North Edsa. But she’s not old, I’m 21, she’s only 24. We were never on. She closed the shop four months ago dahil nagsawa siya and she wants to put up another business. I never got any of my clothes from her boutique so it’s foul to say I’m the reason it closed down. I never asked money from her and she never gave me any. May girlfriend akong non-showbiz din but we broke up two months ago. Magkakilala sila and she knows Keng and I are just friends.”