Showdown today: Teysi/K2K vs SIS

Curtain-raisers:

• Could it be true that a sexy actress noted (notorious?) for falling for married men is the cause of the cracks in the marriage of a politician and his equally popular wife? Amazingly, the actress can tell the whole world with a straight face that she never makes patol to married men. Obviously, honesty is not the best policy as far as she’s concerned.

• Tuloy ang kasal! That was the pronouncement of Annabelle Rama who was reported on Startalk last Saturday as having told daughter Ruffa Gutierrez to stop her wedding to Yilmaz Bektas (on March 25 in Manila and then May 11 in Istanbul) after Ruffa phoned her that she had another one of her frequent fights with Yilmaz. "Okay na sila," Annabelle told Funfare. "They’re really like that – away-bati, away-bati." Ho-hum! So what else is new?

• The "new" MTB will premiere not on Feb. 13 as Funfare earlier reported but on Feb. 23 (unless there’s another postponement). Things are still being finalized. Instead of launching Randy Santiago, Dennis Padilla and to-be-reinstalled Willie Revillame as a new triumvirate, the old "zany trio" of Randy, Willie and, yes, John Estrada will be revived. Only very few of the current hosts will be retained. Edgar Mortiz has already quit as director of the show. Stay tuned to MTB for further development.

* * *

The powerhouse twinbill of Morning Girls: K2K of Kris Aquino and Korina Sanchez and the new show of Tessie Tomas called Teysi will reinforce ABS-CBN’s morning programming effective today. Both 30-minute sizzlers (Monday through Friday), Teysi is scheduled from 10:30 to 11 a.m., followed by K2K from 11 to 11:30. An unbeatable combination, isn’t it?

Is the rival (GMA, that is) taking it sitting down? Of course, not!

GMA’s noontime show, SIS (hosted by the De Belen sisters Janice and Gelli), has come up with its own "explosive" and it’s none other than the "confrontation" between former arch rivals (for the love of, who else, Ariel Rivera who is now Gelli’s husband, father of her three kids) Gelli de Belen and Regine Velasquez.

Oh, my, what TV hosts would do for the sake of rating, ’no! Never mind if they have to swallow all sorts of things, not the least of which is their pride. Ordinarily, Gelli wouldn’t be caught dead in the same room with Regine. But with stiff competition rearing its ugly head at the door, does she have any choice?

Anyway, even if she’s the host, Gelli hardly unnerved Regine during the taping for SIS (which starts today at 10 a.m., 30 minutes earlier than usual). There were little surprises, with Gelli caught at the end of them, such as when Regine took the floor and asked Gelli some ticklish questions, like "Galit na galit ka ba sa akin noon?"

"During the taping," said an eyewitness, "halatang na-insecure si Gelli kay Regine who was her usual calm and composed self. Gelli wasn’t told in advance what Regine’s question were, kaya nabigla siya."

It’s a good thing Gelli and Regine didn’t bury the hatchet on each other’s back. That would have been bloody (yuck!).

Now swearing to be "friends," Gelli and Regine can now move on (although Regine claimed that she had done that a long time ago) after confronting their ugly past.

In that episode, both emerged as "winners" (having let bygones be bygones daw) but the bigger winner was, I daresay, Regine who was plucky enough to enter Gelli’s "territory" and survive it in one piece – with head held high.

Anyway, I advise you guys out there to watch the three shows – Teysi, K2K and SIS – and decide for yourself which one is worth your while.

Be ready with the remote control, please!

Meanwhile, here’s Tessie in her own words telling us what she did during her absence from television:

Yes, I’ve had a life away from showbiz for at least six months! I gave up Feel at Home in May, 2002, because that was when my yearly contract ended. But more important, I had to fly to New York to attend my son’s graduation at Parsons on May 17th. Robin finished an Associate Degree in Fashion Design. He even qualified to be part of the Trunk Show (a fashion show featuring clothes of outstanding graduates). The ballgown he created and sewed (as in siya ang nagtahi dahil ganoon ang training sa Parsons) was the finale of the show! I was so proud of him.

In June and July, I was just in Manila. On Aug. 27, I flew to Switzerland to visit my friend Susan in St. Prex, a lovely town outside Geneva. She lives in a huge seven-bedroom house facing Lake Geneva.

Then, I met up with Roger (Pullin, my husband) in Paris. We stayed in a quaint hotel in St. Germain, the hotel Sant Andre des Arts, a favorite choice of jazz musicians. We had a most enjoyable reunion with his marine biologist friends. Clive came up from Montpellier in the South of France and Daniel flew from Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife Sandra. Then, Rog and I flew to the Isle of Man which is between England and Ireland. Rog lived and worked there for many years and it is one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in my life, I swear! Malamang dito nag-shooting ang Wuthering Heights or Braveheart – mountains, murmuring streams, cliffs, seagulls, robins and all sorts of birds flying in the beautifuls skies amidst a tapestry of never-ending greenery.

Then, I went on a 10-day rampage around Spain by joining a coach tour that started from Madrid to Barcelona to Granada to Seville, then back to Madrid. We were 48 tourists in the bus and by the end of the trip I had made so many friends. My favorite place is Seville with its wonderful parks and gardens, Moorish monuments such as The Alcazar and Giralda Tower and the Cathedral of Sta. Maria De Sede, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest cathedral in the world.

By Sept. 28, I was back in Manila doing all sorts of things – attending to repairs in our apartment, lunches with friends, and meetings with CFSI (the non-government organization that I assist). They help to rebuild the lives of Muslim women and children uprooted by the war in Mindanao.

On Nov. 20, we flew to England to attend the 90th birthday of my mom-in-law, Edna Jessie Pullin (tawag ko sa kanya EJ or Mommy Pullin). From London, we took the train to York and the big party was at Deighton Grove, the stately old house where Rog’s sister Gill and husband Dave live. There’s a huge swimming pool and jacuzzi at the back garden (na kung ilang ektarya yata ang laki!). We had a great party attended by about 40 people. The food was all prepared by Dave, who is an excellent cook (mahal ang catering sa England!).

The next day, I flew to Santander, Spain, to continue tracing the roots of the Hermosas, my family of origin. It was the dying wish of my father, Fernando (who passed away in 1983), for me to go to Santander and to verify the roots of Jose Hermosa, my great, great, great grandfather. I spent two days in the library researching on our genalogy and I am keeping my fingers crossed but it seems we are related to Francisco Hermosa, Conde de Torrehermosa, who owns a palace in Pamanes, a town outside Santander (huwag isnabin ang mga Hermosa!)

From Spain, I flew to Florence to meet up with Rog. We stayed in a 17th century hotel, the Boscolo Hotel Astoria. We wined and dined to the hilt – i.e. Bisteca alla Fiorentina, Spaghetti Vongole, Spigolo (Seabass) all sorts of primera piatti and segunda piatti washed down with Chianti Classico, Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino, Amaro, and Grappa. We also took a day trip to Sienna, the Chianti wine country and San Gimigliano.

Then, we took the train to Rome and stayed in a friend’s apartment in Trasterve, a bohemian part of town pretty much like Malate. Again, we wined and dined on impeccable pastas and desserts like there was no tomorrow but there was! From Rome, we spent a few days in Hong Kong to get rid of the jetlag then back to Manila on Dec. 16 in time for a Paskong Pinoy!

Overall, 2002 has been a terrific year and a most memorable one. After working non-stop for 30 years, I was finally able to take a break or a "Sabbatical" for six months. Hallelujah!

2003 is a totally different year. It will wisher in my new daily show on Channel 2, Teysi. It will be work with a capital W, hopefully a lot of fun while working, and still finding time for Rog, my friends and myself.

What’s up?

• Martin Nievera has vehemently denied the rumor linking him to Cutie del Mar, one-time TV "weather girl" who was once also romantically linked to other actors. Martin said that he and Cutie are "just friends" and that they’ve known each other for years. They’re such good friends, in fact, that when Martin did a show recently at the PICC, Cutie was seated among Martin’s immediate-family members. Martin’s beloved Katrina Ojeda was then abroad.

• Has Jordan Herrera been delaying the shooting of Viva Films’ Lupe, comeback vehicle of direk Elwood Perez and launching movie of new boldie Andrea del Rosario? Jordan would report to the set late, much to the chagrin of Andrea, direk Elwood and Leandro Muñoz (Andrea’s other leading man). Once, the "call time" for a Laguna shoot was 7:30 a.m. Guess what time Jordan showed up – 12:30 p.m.!

• Paolo Bediones’ contract with GMA will expire in April. Is it true that he’s getting some "juicy feelers" from ABS-CBN?

* * *

E-mail your reactions at: [email protected]