Grace Poe's son surprised Jasmine at presscon

JASMINE Curtis- Smith was left speechless Thursday when Brian Poe-Llamanzares, son of Senator Grace Poe, appeared at the press conference for TV5's upcoming series "My Fair Lady."

Curtis-Smith was introduced as the main star of the remake of the 2009 Korean series, alongside leading men Luis Alandy and Vin Abrenica.

After the usual question and answer portion, Curtis-Smith, the entire cast and the press, were caught by surprise when Llamanzares suddenly came out from nowhere with a bouquet of flowers.

He went on stage, handed the flowers to Curtis-Smith, whom he never met before, and talked about how he admires the actress since he first saw her on a billboard along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.

"I didn't know what to say. I never thought I'd get that close to her and be able to say that I actually wanted to meet her," Llamanzares, 23, told reporters.

He added: "I didn't think anyone else is going to bring flowers to her, so why not me, di ba? And besides, there's something about that kilig factor that I thought it might look sweet. I sucked it out, went on stage even if I was really scared to do so."

Asked if he did not think of meeting the 21year-old actress in private so as not to give malice on his intentions, he said that they don't have any friends in common and he sees the event as his only chance to meet the actress.

"She's single now, I'm single also and I just figured that this is my only shot. This presscon or nothing. We don't have common friends that I could meet her through. We were not in the same network when I was in show business. In terms of work, we don't have anything in com- mon," said Llamanzares, who is currently on leave from his reportorial job at CNN Philippines.

"They'll always have something to say naman no matter what. I'm sure they're going to say all sorts of things about it. But I really just wanted the chance to meet and know her. Sa tingin ko naman this is my only shot."

Llamanzares also said he wants to know Curtis-Smith better by meeting her parents and sister, actress Anne Curtis.

"I hope, and given the opportunity by her sister and her family, to get to know her better. I want to know who she is. I don't want the showbiz side. I want to know who she is," he said.

Curtis- Smith said she was flattered by Llamanzares' gesture.

"Walang nagsabi sa akin. Very flattered. It seems that he has a very level-headed mind. He knows family is very important. So, at least yun ang una niyang sinabi," she said.

Asked if she's open to dating now, she replied: "I don't really know. But one of my friends told me is that how will you really know if you don't take a leap of faith. Sometimes you just have to accept things as they come along." Glaiza Jarloc/ Sunnex