THERE’S a big baby boom in showbiz in 2020. Iya Villania (partner is Drew Arellano), Isabel Oli (John Prats), Chariz Solomon (non showbiz partner), Regine Tolentino, (non showbiz partner), Precious Lara Quigaman (Marco Alcaraz), Maya Flores (Geoff Eigenmann) and Diana Zubiri (Andrew Smith) all gave birth to their third babies. Bangs Garcia and Jewel Mische gave birth to their second child with their British and American husbands, respectively.
Those who gave birth for the first time this year include Solenn Heussaff and Nico Bolzico, Anne Curtis and Erwan Heussaff, Coleen Garcia and Billy Crawford, Diane Medina and Rodjun Cruz, Luane Dy and Carlo Gonzales, Max Collins and Pancho Magno, Aicelle Santos and Mark Zambrano, Ryza Cenon (dad is cinematographer, Miguel Cruz), Sofia Andres (non-showbiz dad is Daniel Miranda), Ethel Booba (with non-showbiz partner Jesse Salazar), Sheena Halili (with non-showbiz partner, lawyer Jeron Manzanero), and Assunta de Rossi who gave birth after 16 years of marriage to Jules Ledesma.
Janella Salvador is also rumored to have given birth sired by actor Markus Patterson, but they have yet to admit it publicly. Their silence only proves that the rumor is true since it’s so easy to deny it if it were not.
Male celebrities who had babies with their non-showbiz partners include Carlo Aquino, JC Santos, KC Montero, Baron Geisler, Alex Medina, PBB Winner Slater Young, comedian Pepe Herrera and athlete Philip Younghusband.
Currently pregnant are Phoemela Baranda with her second child at 40 years old (her first daughter is now 22 years old, dad is the former boyfriend of Rhian Ramos), Andi Eigenmann who’s preggy with her third child, Iwa Moto, Broadway and West End star Rachelle Ann Go, singer Maricris Garcia and Nicole Donesa with Mark Herras as the dad. Beauty queen Sandra Seifert also admitted in public that Cesar Montano is the father of her 4-year-old son.
One of the biggest showbiz news this year is the closure of ABS-CBN after Congress, which staged an alleged moro-moro that’s obviously anti-ABS-CBN, did not renew its franchise last July. Many of its stars transferred to TV5 and its blocktimers, notably Brightlight Productions of Cong. Albee Benitez who’s currently producing six big new shows no less for TV5, mostly starring former Kapamilya stars.
ABS-CBN continued operating on their digital outlets then got to show their programs on Eddie Villanueva’s Channel 11 which they called A2Z. Some Kapamilya stars also left talent management arm, Star Magic, the biggest one being Bea Alonzo who’s been with them for 19 years. She’s now managed by Shirley Kuan.
The year actually started with Aga Muhlach’s “Miracle at Cell No. 7” becoming the 2019 Metro Filmfest topgrosser, eclipsing the entry of Vice Ganda who’s been the perennial topgrosser for some years. And now, the year ends with the annual Metro filmfest being held not in theaters but streaming online and Vice Ganda no longer has an entry.
The first local movie shown this year is titled “Mia” starring Coleen Garcia and it’s a big flop, a clear indication of what awaits the film industry for the rest of the year. Soon after that, the pandemic came and no more local films were shown as all theaters closed down.
If it’s any consolation, many actors won awards in film festivals abroad. Louise Abuel won best actor in the Dhaka International Filmfest for “Edward”.
Elijah Canlas won best actor for Asian Filmfest Awards in Rome.
Arjo Atayde won best drama actor in Asian Academy Creative Awards for the iWant TV series, “Bagman”
Mara Lopez won best supporting actress award in the North Europe International Filmfest in London for “Jesusa”.
Cristine Reyes won best actress award in the Fantasporto International Filmfest in Portugal for “Untrue”.
Lovi Poe and Allen Dizon won best actress and best actor awards in the International Filmfest Manhattan for “Latay”. Dingdong Dantes won the Asian Star Prize in Seoul for “Descendants of the Sun Ph”.
NEXT: 2020’s most controversial issues, how the pandemic affected showbiz, and showbiz denizens who said goodbye.
