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Aiko, Katrina on-screen rivals, best friends in real life

Katrina Halili and Aiko Melendez
Katrina Halili and Aiko Melendez

KATRINA Halili says she was so happy to see again all her co-stars in “Prima Donnas” when they were all gathered together in one location for a three-week lock in taping.

“We really missed each other kasi six months ding natigil ang taping namin dahil sa lockdown at hindi kami nagkita,” she says. “Kaya walang katapusang kuwentuhan ang nangyari nang magkaharap kami uling lahat.”

So what occupied her time during the lockdown? “Just like the rest, I stayed at home for safety and spent it bonding with my daughter Katie. Sobrang nakakatuwa kasi malaki-laki na siya and we now enjoy doing things together.”

It’s obvious that she’s now very close with her “Prima Donnas” co-stars Chanda Romero, Aiko Melendez and Wendell Ramos as they all feature each other in their social media accounts and vlogs. The younger girls consisting of Jillian Ward, Althea Ablan and Elijah Alejo (minus Sofia Pablo who was not allowed to work during lockdown as she’s underaged) also uploaded footage with them all together in their own Youtube channels.

“We have really become one big happy family on the set,” says Katrina, “kasama na pati ang aming director na si Miss Gina Alajar. Lahat kami, sabik na sabik humarap uli sa kamera and do what we all do best, acting and playing our respective roles in ‘Prima Donnas’.”

Katrina as Lillian and Aiko as Kendra are actually mortal enemies in the story. Kendra has framed up Lillian for a crime she did not commit and when the series abruptly ended due to the corona virus, Lillian was shown languishing in jail while Kendra is now manipulating things so that Wendell as Jaime, the man they are both fighting for, can officially tie the knot with her while Lillian is in prison.

“Magkaaway lang kami sa show pero off camera, we are the best of friends ni Ate Aiko,” says Katrina. “Masarap siyang katrabaho, very considerate. Malayong malayo siya as Kendra sa totoong katauhan niya sa tunay na buhay na walang mean bone in her body. Sa totoo lang, nanibago ako sa role ko dito sa ‘Prima Donnas’ kasi mabait ang character kong si Lillian, e. Nasanay na kasi sa akin ang viewers na ako lagi ang kontrabidang nang-aapi. Ngayon naman, ako yung inaapi, so na-challenge talaga ako at ibang-iba ang atake ko sa role ko rito.”

Katrina wants to remind all the loyal fans of “Prima Donnas” that the fresh new episodes they have taped for the show will start airing this Monday afternoon, November 9. “So don’t miss it po kasi napakaraming pasabog na eksena kaming kinunan para sa pagbabalik ng ‘Prima Donnas’,” adds Katrina. “Diyan nyo na malalaman kung ano ang mangyayari kay Lillian at sa mga Donnas.”

A big surprise named Chantal

Chantal Videla
Chantal Videla

CHANTAL Videla is the big surprise in TV5’s Sunday afternoon drama, “I Got You”. She was not included in any of Brightlight Productions zoom presscons for their new show so we were surprised when we watched “I Got You” and saw that aside from Beauty Gonzalez, Jane Oineza and RK Bagatsing, there is another important role, that of Iya, the teenage love child of Beauty and RK played by Chantal.

We first saw Chantal when she was introduced as part of Star Magic Batch 2018, which includes the likes of Tony Labrusca (now the most popular among them), Markus Paterson (now about to be a young dad), Donny Pangilinan (now also with TV5) and Leila Alcasid (the daughter of Ogie and Michelle Van Eimeren.)

After that, we saw her in the mini-series “Spirits Reawaken” shown on iWant TV where she was paired with Grae Fernandez, the son of Mark Anthony Fernandez. But their love team obviously didn’t prosper (honestly, they didn’t have much chemistry) and she now gets another newcomer as her love interest in “I Got You”, with whom she also doesn’t have any chemistry at all. We think the guy best suited for her as ka-love team is Patrick Quiroz, her co-star in “Spirits Reawaken”.

Born on December 15, 2002, Chantal has a Pinay mom and an Argentinian father. No wonder she was very fluent speaking her Spanish lines in her role in “I Got You” as a 17-year old girl who grew up in Spain. She started in showbiz as a TV commercial model before joining Star Magic.

She was last seen on TV in the primetime soap “Starla” and on the big screen, in the comedy “Familia Blondina” with Karla Estrada. Chantal is very pretty on screen, has a stunning mestiza screen presence and can also act convincingly. In “I Got You”, she is able to hold her own admirably in her dramatic scenes with Beauty Gonzales and RK Bagatsing.

She plays Beauty’s rebellious daughter who is annoyed with her mom who concealed from her the truth about her identity. Beauty told her she doesn’t have a father as Beauty just got an unknown sperm donor to conceive her. But through the internet, she was able to track down her real dad, RK Bagatsing, and the primary reason why she wanted to return to Manila is to meet him in person, which terribly shocked Beauty when they all finally meet each other face to face.

She has all the potentials to make it big, so if Chantal’s career is properly handled, we have no doubt that she can go places in local showbiz.

Stubborn actors

THE cast of a new show might not know it yet but some of their members might be given their walking papers once the show’s current season ends. They’re doing lock in taping for the show out of town and some of the actors in it are so “pasaway” so that management is seriously considering axing them soon.

Since they’re on a lock in taping, there are some rules and regulations they have to follow not only for their own protection but for the safety all their co-stars and also the production staff and the crew members who are working with them on the set.

But some of them are just so hard-headed. One beauty queen-actress knows no one is allowed to leave the lock in set because they’ve all subjected to swab test before taping started. But during a taping break, this actress insisted on going out because she said she’s having lunch with her kumare.

Another actress is throwing her weight around on the set and behaving like a diva making all sorts of demands, even maligning another actress she has worked with before in another soap. We’re told management is now thinking of firing her and getting the actress that she is ‘making sira’ to spite her.

Still another actress, invited two male friends to visit her on their lock in set, which is a no-no since outsiders are not allowed as they might be unknowingly carrying the virus into the lock in set. Still another actress who’s just a guest in one episode chose to stay in the quarters of one of the actors in show till the wee hours of the morning, even if this is also forbidden.

These are just the actresses in the cast. Wait till we tell you about the misbehaving actors they’re working with. Obviously, having a lock in taping with pasaway and uncooperative actors can really be a big headache for any network who is already spending so much for their safety protocols on the set and the irresponsible actors are just squandering all the money allocated for their safety.