Will & Alodia: Together in sickness and in health
Curtain-raisers: Face Didn’t Look Familiar — At the recent 2018 ABS-CBN Ball, a network executive approached the female half of a loveteam and said “Hi!” with a wide smile. Clueless, the actress asked with a blank look on her face, “And you are…?” Moral of the story? Networks should introduce their contract stars to the bigwigs, and vice-versa, to avoid such embarrassing encounter. Yes, the actress got a scolding for it. Oops! Naughty
Finger — Also in the same event, a member of an allmale group poked a finger at the butt of the female date of a singer. Of course, she got offended and complained to the singer. A fisticuff was aborted when the offender explained that it was his group’s way of greeting (teasing) one another (including female kabiruan) and he mistook the girl for somebody he knew. But didn’t he see that his “target” was wearing a gown? Or was he too tipsy (if he drank) to look? Next time, he should take a good look before he pokes.
“Please Release Me!” — Could it be true that an actress (whose comeback has been long delayed) is asking (nay, demanding!) to be released from her contract with a major company? According to the Funfare DPA, several scripts have been submitted to the actress but she turned them all down. “Hard to please,” said the Funfare DPA. “The company would release her only if she returned the millions in advance payment.”
When Fil-Am vlogger/commercial model/ex-PBB housemate Will Dasovich, 27, was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer, his girlfriend cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao, 30, provided him more than TLC (Tender Loving Care). They are among the first social-media celebrities with large following (Alodia said that she started cosplaying when she was 15).
“I work not just here but around the world,” said Alodia, “and wherever I was, I would reroute my flight to San Francisco where Will was being treated. I made sure to be with him every time I got the chance.”
They’ve been together (that is, going steady) since last year. They met at the NAIA on their way to Malaysia for the Influence Asia Awards where they were nominated against each other. Will won.
“Three awards,” smiled Will, adding, “actually, four awards. The fourth was Alodia.”
Diagnosed in August last year, Will happily announced last February that he was cancer-free.
“I updated people about my illness to give hope to those in the same situation,” Will told Funfare the other day when he and Alodia signed up as endorsers for Smart…together in sickness and in health. “It was an agonizing six-month battle that involved several chemotherapy sessions.” And more.
In an interview with his aunt Karen Davila on her ANC show Headstart after he was declared cancer-free, Will disclosed, “In California, maybe some people don’t know this, but marijuana is legal. Not just medical marijuana, as in marijuana by itself. Every single cancer patient I met in the infusion center uses medical marijuana because of the best thing it does; it’s kind of like a medical miracle drug. They give you all these pills and stuff…I hated popping all those prescriptions they were giving me. They worked, they alleviated the stuff but nothing was like medical marijuana (endorsed by his doctors),” adding, “the best thing is that medical marijuana gives you an appetite. When you are in chemo, nothing tastes good. Your favorite food just tastes terrible, so you stop eating.”
The sweethearts are the perfect choice as Smart endorsers.
“They are the top Pinoy YouTube stars,” a Smart lady told Funfare. “It reinforces Smart’s push for mobile data adoption among Filipinos while it continues to expand its LTE network to support bandwidth-heavy activities like seamless video streaming.”
Smart continues to offer up to one hour of free YouTube every day for prepaid and postpaid customers until Oct. 31. The promo allows more Filipinos to enjoy the world’s largest video library for entertainment, education, etc.
Ai-Ai deadset on having a baby
Looking at the growing tummy of Marian Rivera (whom she calls “my kakambal”), Ai-Ai delas Alas said that she’s determined to also have a baby even if, at 50-plus, she conceded being past her “prime.” Her husband, Gerald Sibayan, is only in his mid-20s.
“By 2020,” Ai-Ai marked her target date, and that’s after she celebrates her 30th year in showbiz with a major concert probably also at the Big Dome where she held the last one. Asked how having a baby would be possible, Ai-Ai whispered, “Science!”
Joking, Ai-Ai said that she warned Marian against looking at her.
“Baka maglihi siya sa akin,” laughed Ai-Ai, “lugi siya!” Funfare talked to Ai-Ai when she renewed her contract as product endorser for Pitalicious Franchising Corporation, maker of homemade Pitalicious Shawarma (marinated beef and pita). She also endorses other food-related products and businesses (Bacsilog, Bulalo World, Smart Grains, etc.).
Ai-Ai (with Gerald) should be back from the US where she and other Kapuso stars did a show. Still basking in her recent Best Actress win for School Service (in the 2018 Cinemalaya), following a triumphant likewise drama performance in Area, Ai-Ai returns to comedy in a Viva movie with Ex Battalion, playing the “flawed” mom of the boys.
“Dati good mom ang roles ko,” said AiAi, “but this time, bad naman ako. But in the end, naging mabuting ina uli ako.” (E-mail reactions at entphilstar@ yahoo.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)