When Carmina met BB
Carmina Villaroel revealed that she had met BB Gandanghari, who used to go by the name of Rustom Padilla, the actress’s first husband.
“Wala... Parang ano lang, old friends (It was nothing... It was just like old friends meeting again),” Villaroel told the Philippine Entertainment Portal about meeting her now-female ex.
She did not reveal when she actually met Gandanghari, who is now legally the older sister of Robin Padilla. But it should be before Gandanghari left for the US, where she is currently based.
Villaroel shared that she and husband Zoren Legaspi owned a unit in the same condominium building Gandanghari used to live in.
Legaspi, said Villaroel, already met Gandanghari a few times because they see each other in the building’s gym.
“I met her at the gym. I was with the twins and Zoren,” she narrated in Tagalog. “With Zoren, there was no problem because they have worked together so they have already talked. Then (Zoren said), ‘Carmina is there.’ She approached me—hi and hello lang.”
Then Villaroel was asked what she called Gandanghari during the meeting: “BB!” she laughed, “That’s her name.”
Villaroel said she just wants Gandanghari to be happy because she’s very happy with her life.
“I just wish her well,” added Villaroel.
Villaroel and Rustom Padilla met in 1990 when they were paired together in the movie “Hindi Magbabago.” Their relationship caught media attention because Villaroel, now 42, was eight years Rustom’s junior. They secretly wed in 1994 but separated in 1997. But it wasn’t until 2012 that the marriage was annulled.
Meanwhile, Villaroel and Legaspi shared the screen in “Kahit Mabuhay Kang Muli” and fell in love. The fruits of their love, Cassy and Mavy, were born in 2002.
In 2006, Rustom, in one of the most-watched episode of “Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition,” came out as gay. Years later, though, when Rustom became Gandanghari in 2009, she realized that she wasn’t gay—she’s transgender.
Legaspi and Villaroel tied the knot in 2012.