Teen Star Bianca Umali Predicted To Be GMA-7's Next Marian Rivera

IF THERE’S ONE newcomer on whom we’d place our bets for stardom, it’s Bianca Umali. We first saw her as a child actress in “Kaya Kong Abutin ang Langit” as the young Angelika de la Cruz in 2009 when she was 9 years old. She then became a regular in “Tropang Potchi” and did other shows like “Magic Palayok”, “Mga Basang Sisiw” and “Paroa”. She has now grown into a beautiful and talented teen star paired with the equally good looking Miguel Tanfelix and their BiGuel love team now has its own legion of fans.

Many folks predict that Bianca will be the next Marian Rivera of GMA-7. Even the popular website 9gag.com featured her and this is what they say about her: “This 15-year-old girl got the beauty, but she also got talent and brains.”

She was surprised when she read about it in the famous site. “9gag is actually one of my favourite sites. When I saw myself in the site, I couldn’t believe that I was featured in it. I felt surprised, happy, and excited all at the same time,” she says.

Doesn’t she and Miguel feel any pressure that the show they’re replacing, “The Half Sisters” which ends this Friday, is a megahit that aired for more than one year? “Siempre may pressure, kailangan naming ma-sustain ang viewers on that slot. Kaya naman we’re doing our best to make sure magiging maganda lagi ang bawat episode ng aming show, kasi hindi naman kami ang ipapalit ng GMA sa kanila kundi mataas ang expectations sa amin.”

Bianca and Miguel play childhood friends who get attracted to each other as teeners, but the hitch is that it turns out they have the same dad: Mark Anthony Fernandez. So they’re half siblings, with Camille Prats as Bianca’s mom and Rochelle Pangilinan as Miguel’s mom. How this conflict will be resolved to prevent an incestuous relationship between them is what you should watch out for in the series.