If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

It seems that Jen Mercado’s ex-boyfriend is also making news in showbiz. Not as big as Jen’s pregnancy announcement but surprising as well. Mark Herras have been going steady with Lian Paz, an EB Babes member, for 10 months already. Unlike his relationship with Jen, the one with Lian was relatively tampuhan free. That’s why it came as a surprise that they broke up. And Mark Herras indirectly admits it’s because of a third party. Surprisingly, not on his side but Lian’s! PEP asked the first StarStruck Ultimate Male Survivor if the third party angle is true and the young actor replied, “Opo, pero ayoko na lang pong magsalita dahil nakakahiya naman kay Lian. Siya ang babae.” Last Monday (January 7), a tabloid printed that Mark Herras was jealous of a certain basketball player. When asked if he knew who was it, the Bad Boy of the Dancefloor joked, “He he he, secret po eh, ha ha ha, yuppy PBA. Hayaan niyo na po, tapos na naman.”

FHM’s Sexiest for 2007 happily celebrated her 22nd birthday yesterday at Barrakz Bar in Tomas Morato, Quezon City. Katrina Halili had a simple celebration, with only her close friends, some entertainment media, and “Marimar” workmates. She didn’t even have a birthday cake! Says Katrina Halili, “Biglaan din kasi ito, and noong una, parang mga friends lang tapos yung mga taga-press. Parang tsikahan lang at inuman. Wala nga akong cake, kasi walang nagmamahal sa akin.” As for her birthday wish, the onscreen villainess known as Angelica wants more work as opposed to having a lovelife. Katrina Halili shares, “Birthday wish ko, maging happy at sexy kahit loveless at saka maraming trabaho. Iyon ang importante sa akin, trabaho and happiness, saka na ang love life, next time na iyon dahil baka bigla akong mapakasal niyan, e.” Her birthday well-wishers include Andrew Schimmer (her ex)), Marco Alcaraz, Bing Loyzaga, Paolo Paraiso, Michael Roy, Sheena Halili, Alvin Aragon, etc. Again, happy birthday Katrina Halili!

As expected, the comedian from Davao City was declared the Big Winner in Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2! Ruben Gonzaga had a total of 506,402 text votes or 32.17% of the total votes. Fil-Canadian beauty queen Riza Santos was named Second Big Placer with 430,135 text votes or 27.33%. Race driver Gaby dela Merced came in Third with 406,892 text votes (25.5%) while model turned actor Will Devaughn was Fourth with 230,509 text votes (14.65%). I guess looks didn’t matter this time around, lol! Sorry Will! Hehe! Anyway, Ruben Gonzaga received a Sony Bravia TV, a Goodah business franchise package, a condominium unit at Chateau Valenzuela, and P2 million pesos!!! All in all, his prizes are worth nearly P5 million pesos. Man, he’s got a condo unit! So great! =) And by the way, Ruben Gonzaga is the first MALE winner of the PBB! The previous winners were all female, namely Nene Tamayo (First Season), Keanna Reeves (Celebrity Edition 1), Kim Chiu (Teen Edition), and Beatriz Saw (Second Season). Congratulations Ruben! See you on TV! =)

Two of the best young dramatic actresses these days are once again in one network and working in one show. Erstwhile enemies Sunshine Dizon and Angelika dela Cruz meets once again in the Kapuso network after the latter left ABS-CBN for personal and professional reasons. The two had a falling out years ago in “Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin”, a GMA soap, where the script was drastically altered (Sunshine Dizon’s character was killed off) just so they won’t work together anymore. But it seems everything is okay between the two actresses now. In a farewell presscon of “La Vendetta” last January 3, Sunshine Dizon shares, “Naku, tapos na ‘yon and pareho na kaming mature ngayon … Yung nangyari sa amin noon, kinalimutan na namin ‘yon. Pareho na kaming nag-move on. Sa totoo lang, masaya ako na nandito na siya ulit sa GMA-7 … Tsaka wala na nga kaming samaan ng loob ni Angelika. I can work with her anytime. There’s no issue talaga.” That’s good to hear! Now, we shall wait for Angelika’s statement =)

Wala pang isang linggo ang bagong taong pero nagimbal na tayo ng mga nakakagulat na balita. Ang latest? Buntis ang Starstruck Survivor na si Jennylyn Mercado! Wala pang 21 years old ang batang aktres kaya marami ang nanghinayang sa kanyang kondisyon. Ayon sa source ng PEP, six weeks and two days ng buntis si Jennylyn Mercado, courtesy of Patrick Garcia, ang kanyang boyfriend. Nagpa checkup ang dalawa sa St. Luke’s Hospital kanina at doon na talagang nakumpirma ang pagbubuntis. Ayon kay Patrick, pananagutan niya ang dinadala ni Jen. Kanina ngang umaga ay nasa Makati City Hall sila para komunsulta sa nalalapit nilang pagpapakasal. Ayaw kasi ni Pat na lumabas ang bata na hindi pa sila kasal ni Jennylyn Mercado. Ang problema na lang ay ang petsa sa kanilang kasal dahil sa October 9 ang kasal ni Cheska Garcia (kapatid ni Patrick) sa basketbolistang si Doug Kramer. Kung matutuloy ang pagpapakasal nina Pat at Jen ay magiging sukob ang kasal ng magkapatid na Cheska at Patrick. Naku naman! Pano na itoh??

The former PBB alumna was so visible during 2007’s Metro Manila Film Festival that people were asking if she has a movie for the said festival. Say Alonzo denies this and says, “I’m here as a host kaya ako nandito. Ako ‘yong nag-iinterview sa ibang mga artista!” The bubbly young lady shared hosting duties with Asia Agcaoili, Smokey Manaloto, and Archie Alemania for the formal presentation of the stars at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. Say Alonzo has shared to PEP that she was supposed to go to Boracay for her New Year’s celebration with best friend Uma Khouny. She says, “We were planning to go to Boracay but I have work on the 30th, so sayang naman if it’s just like one day, two days.” As for her New Year’s Resolution, Say Alonzo shares that she wants “to get more sleep! I haven’t had any sleep [for] the past couple of months.” And of course, despite hesitating at first, the known party girl finally adds: “Less gimmicks.”

Banal is a Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2007 entry and it’s the first directorial job of GMA News and Public Affairs reporter Cesar Apolinario. The movie is an interesting mix of action, drama and suspense, and it is Alfred Vargas’ third MMFF movie. The hunky actor shared to PEP: “Ito ‘yong third ko. In the past, meron akong Bridal Shower [2004], ZsaZsa Zaturnnah [2006].” And for him, his Banal role is bigger and much meatier than his previous MMFF movie roles. Alfred Vargas said, “This is my biggest role so far sa [Metro Manila] Film Festival. It’s my first time to play a cop. Leader ako ng unit ko sa Special Weapons and Tactics.” Wow, that’s indeed a cool role! The Kapuso actor revealed “It’s about a Papal assassination attempt dito sa Pilipinas and dahil nga sa ganung klaseng plot, pinaghalu-halo yung action, drama and suspense, so siguro nga kakaiba siya.” In Banal, Alfred Vargas is with multi-awarded actor Christopher de Leon. The movie opens in theaters everywhere on New Year’s Day so that means you can go and catch it now! =) Happy New Year everybody!

That’s according to Carlene Aguilar, mother of his first child, Calix Andreas. According to her, Dennis Trillo only visited their son 10 days out of the 65 they’ve been here in the Philippines. Also, he doesn’t give enough financial support. Only P5000 for a month, and that’s less than his son’s yaya’s salary! Dennis Trillo also didn’t visit them during Christmas though the actor said in a previous interview that he wants to spend Christmas day with his son. According to Carlene, the actor just sent his driver to deliver his gifts and monthly support. For his part, Dennis Trillo said he has visited their home several times but was not allowed to go in. He was just made to wait in the guardhouse. The Zaido actor also said that Carlene is asking for an unreasonable amount of financial support though he did not give the amount asked. The word war between the two former lovers continues and unfortunately, it is their son who will suffer the consequences. Sad!

Yesterday, December 29, PEP released an article detailing the reported separation of Cesar Montano and Sunshine Cruz. According to reports, Sunshine left their home last December 25 with their three daughters. The cause of the split? A Brazilian model named Mariana del Rio who appeared in the SAMBA corned beef ad. According to Shine, the affair started last September and she has been reading texts from “Samba” in Cesar’s phone saying: “Honey, where are you?” Also, she saw pictures of the two in the Christmas party of Mano-Mano, an ABSCBN show. However, Cesar Montano denied all rumors, including the separation. He sent a text message to Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon, PEP’s editor-in-chief, saying: “This is 1 of shines childish reactions on things..somebody jst txtd her n poisond her mind.she overreactd n speculated wildly. 1st I did not hv any relationship.affair, elopment or a 1 nght stand kind of thing to any Brazilian lady.esp kung bata pa. Lalung hindi. I’m not stupid. . matagal kong pinagpaguran ang pangalan ko.Esp now I’m indorsing several products. I’m not going to ruin it just like dat. I luv my wife, n family. My children r so precious to me hindi ko cla ipagpapalit para lang sa sandaling kaligayahan..I hv all d reason to make my name stay gud and to stay away from ugly things. Perhaps my detractors overwhelmed my wife this time by sending txt msg to destroy my family..my msg to them is, ‘may katapusan din kayo.’”

The first time the Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) host entered Bahay ni Kuya as a special houseguest in PBB’s Celebrity Edition Season 2, she made had lots of negative issues. If you can remember, nilait nya ang mga contestant sa Wowowee (kung saan host si Mariel Rodriguez) na mababaho raw ang mga ito. Sinabi din niyang baduy ang pinanggalingan niyang network na GMA-7 habang kinakausap si Megan Young, isang former GMA talent. At ngayon, sa muli nyang pagpasok sa Bahay ni Kuya, muli na namang gumawa ng kontrobersya si Mariel Rodriguez. Last December 28, sa 24/7 live stream ng PBB, nakitang nagmumura ang lasing na batang host habang nakikipag-usap kay Ethel Booba tungkol sa celebrity housemate na si Riza Santos. Eto ang kanilang naging pag-uusap:

ETHEL (na may gusto kay Will Devaughn): Nakatingin ako kay Will, e. Hopeless na.
MARIEL: Hindi ka hopeless.
ETHEL: Gusto ko siya.
MARIEL: Totoo na ito?
(Tumango si Ethel.)
MARIEL: Pu–ng inang virgin na ‘to (Riza). Pu__ng ina talaga! Pu_i siya. Ki_i ng ina niya!

At dito na na-cut ang PBB live feed, malapit sa aktong magwawala na si Mariel Rodriguez. Tsk tsk! Ano na naman kaya ang magiging excuse ng PBB host sa pasaway nyang mga galaw sa loob ng Bahay ni Kuya? Abangan!