IVANA ALAWI rose to prominence due to her youtube vlogs which has a million subscribers. She tried joining showbiz via Starstruck in 2015 using her real name, Mariam Al Alawi but she didn’t make it.
She’s the older sister of former child star Mona Louise Rey who played the title role in GMA-7’s hit drama, “Munting Heredera”. Their mom is Pinay and their dad is Moroccan.
With her exposure on youtube, ABS-CBN noticed Ivana and she started appearing in their shows. She was interviewed by Jolina Magdangal in “Magandang Buhay” and by Boy Abunda in his show.
She did a supporting role in “Araw Gabi” but she’s now more popular than its star, Barbie Imperial.
She later joined “Ang Probinsyano” and had sexy scenes as the lover of the late Eddie Garcia. She also appeared on the big screen, doing supporting roles in the indie film “Open” with JC Santos and in “3pol Trobol” with Coco Martin.
But her biggest exposure was as one of the leads in the primetime soap, “Sino ang Maysala, Mea Culpa”, with Jodi Sta. Maria that sadly didn’t last very long for which she won the Star best new TV actress award.
Last February, ABS-CBN signed her up to an exclusive contract and she’s about to be launched in her own solo drama, “Ang Lihim ni Ligaya”, but the corona pandemic came along so it’s now in limbo.
Now, some bashers are making fun of her, saying: “Wala ka namang ipapakita bukod sa katawan mo. Yun lang ang meron ka. Wala ka namang utak.”
When she was interviewed by Toni Gonzales in the Kapamilya Channel show, “I Feel You”, the 23-year old Ivana shared her feelings about the bashings she gets.
“I know myself and alam ko na I’m more than just sa paghuhubad, so bakit ako magpapa-apekto sa mga taong humihila sa akin pababa?” she says. “I’m proud of myself kasi nakapagtapos naman ako ng college, natutulungan ko ang family ko and I’m happy. I’m not hurting anyone, trabahong marangal. Naiinggit lang sila e and I accept that.”
She says she’s more affected when it’s her friends who look down on her.
“Yung sa mga kaibigan ko, doon, sobrang naapektuhan ako. Kasi nung time na gusto kong maging sexy tapos, ang sakit na binibitawan na salita. Meron akong two friends na dati, sobrang close ko, everyday magka-chat kami.
"Pag magpo-post ako ng picture ise-send ko muna sa kanila, para ipa-approve ko sa kanila, pero nagsalita sila ng napakasakit na words and that really hurt me, kasi I treated them as my own family.
Yung mama ko and mga kapatid ko, never ako nakarinig ng mga salita na nakakahiya ka. They’re proud of me, and I am happy na my family supports me.
"Ang nakakalungkot lang was the people I thought were my friends, they never supported me sabi nila ‘Wala kang mararating,’ and that really hurts kasi sila pa unang nanghusga sa akin.
"So my attitude now is I don’t care if you’d bash me, kung yan ang ikasasaya mo. But I will not give you any attention because you don’t deserve my time and effort,” says Ivana who’s fairly articulate in both English and Tagalog.
