Gina Alajar slaps Marian Rivera

GINA ALAJAR AS the treacherous Lamitan continues to maltreat Marian Rivera as Amaya in GMA-7’s hit epicserye. In one scene, she really slapped Marian hard on one cheek. “Director Mac Alejandre didn’t want me to fake it,” says Gina. “He wants Marian to really feel yung sobrang pang-aapi ko kay Amaya. So tumama talaga sa mukha niya yung palad ko. Nag-sorry agad ako sa kanya as I was not able to control the impact noong pagsampal ko. Okay naman sa kanya. She knows trabaho lang yun and she’s very professional about it.”

Gina was the one who started directing the Sunday afternoon youth show, “Tween Hearts”, but she has since left it, replaced by Gil Tejada. The reason given is she wants to focus on “Amaya”, but someone told us she felt hurt when she was not the one tapped to direct the “Tween Hearts” movie that GMA’s tween stars are now shooting, directed by Mark Reyes. “Amaya” continues its winning streak in TV ratings according to the TV industry's more widely recognized ratings surveyor Nielsen TV Audience Measurement. In Mega Manila that comprises 58 percent of total television households nationwide, Amaya immediately edged out competition with an average household share of 35.7 percent (for the period of May 30 to June 10 based on overnight ratings data). In Total Urban Luzon, Amaya scored 35.1 percent. Ratings are expected to go higher now that Amaya has discovered that the man she loves, Bagani (Sid Lucero) is the actually the son of her father’s murderer, Rajah Mangubat (Gardo Versoza), who ordered his son to stop defending Amaya or he’d kill her. Amaya then meets a new love interest, Lumad (Mikael Daez), who’s a slave like her.