Janine Gutierrez Now Managed By Leo Dominguez, Talks About The Real Score Between Her And Rayver Cruz

JANINE GUTIERREZ was Rayver Cruz’ date at the recent Star Magic Ball. Because of this, some folks quickly concluded that they must now be officially on, but Rayver is quick to declare that he’s in the process of still courting Janine. “Nanliligaw pa rin, di pa kami,” he says. “I invited her to come with me and I’m glad pumayag naman siya.”

Janine confirms this. When asked “kung may pag-asa ba si Rayver sa kanya”, she said: “Pag-asa? Siyempre, mayroon. Mabait siya, masayang kasama, mga ganun. Alam naman niya yun. Enjoy kami with each other’s company but we don’t pressure ourselves na kami na officially. He knows that as of now, career pa rin ang priority ko.”

Did she get to meet ex-BF Elmo Magalona who was also at the Star Magic Ball with Janella Salvador? “No, hindi kami nagkita. Ang laki naman kasi ng venue.”

She used to be co-managed by his mom Lotlot de Leon with GMA Artist Center. She has now moved to Leo Dominguez of LVD Management. Does this mean she’s leaving GMA? “No. My contract with them has expired but it’s now under negotiations. I will always be thankful sa GMA kasi they’ve been very supportive all these years and gave me good projects. But now, si Tito Leo na ang bahala. I trust him.”

Is it true Leo’s other talents, like Lovi Poe and Solenn Heussaff, now feel insecure with her entry at LVD? “Ay, hindi po. Si Lovi, idol ko talaga siya noon pa and I’m glad she even sent me a message to welcome me.”

Janine just won her first acting award as best supporting actress in the Urduja Heritage Film Awards for the Cinemalaya film, “Dagsin”, for which she was also nominated at the Urian. She’s now doing a new movie, “Spirit of the Glass 2, The Haunted” opening on November 1. How is it working with co-stars Cristine Reyes, Maxine Medina, Daniel Matsunaga? “Okay po sila, but I have very few scenes with them kasi I appear mostly in the flashback scenes. My story happened in the past but it affects them. Most of my scenes were with Dominic Roque and Arron Villaflor na parehong Kapamilya.”

After the hit “Legally Blind”, she’s now doing a new TV series, “Unbroken Hearts”, produced by Atty. Joji Alonso of Quantum Films with Planet A Media, to be shown on GMA-7. “I play the daughter of Assunta de Rossi and aunt ko si Cherie Gil. We own a beach resort and the story is about protecting the environment. Kasama ko sina Martin del Rosario and Kiko Rodriguez. It will run for 13 weeks.”

The producers chose her to sing the show’s theme song and she recorded it in Los Angeles no less, produced by RedOne, well known record producer of Lady Gaga. “I’m really flattered akong napili nilang kumanta and I did it in English and Tagalog versions. I was just a kid when I first went to the U.S. sa concert ni Mamita (Pilita Corrales) at ngayon lang ako nakabalik. I’m with my mom and brother Diego and we stayed there for one week. Nakaikot naman kami sa Hollywood and we went to Universal Studios.”

Why did she choose to be managed by Leo Dominguez and not other managers like Arnold Vegafria or Perry Lansigan? “Noon ko pa gusto magpa-manage sa kanya and I’m thankful na tinanggap niya ako when my mom and I talked to him. I told him my dreams and my plans and he’s very positive we can achieve them together.”

And Leo adds: “Kasi, mas maganda ako sa kanila!”