Michelle Bond will set her love life aside for showbiz

Michelle Bond’s name may be foreign-sounding, and her looks as mestiza as those Miss Earth beauties from other countries. But her heart is every inch Pinay.

This is so because Michelle, one of the latest evictees of ABS-CBN’s Pinoy Dream Academy, is being raised single-handedly by her widowed Pinay mom. Her Dutch father died of skin cancer when Michelle was two and left no memories of himself on his two children. But he bequeathed something lasting to Michelle – good looks that are winning the admiration of not one, but two of Michelle’s former fellow scholars inside the Academy. But sorry, boys. The girl is taken. So in love is she with her Vietnamese martial artist boyfriend Michelle even wrote a love song about being miles away from him.

Her seven-year boyfriend, Minh, supports her dreams of becoming an actress in the Philippines. So he agreed when she told him she’ll fly to Milan from Amsterdam (where she lives) for the PDA auditions. When Michelle sang Don’t Cry For Me Argentina and bested 200 other candidates for a chance to travel to her mom’s homeland, Minh again showed his support. He let her go, albeit with a heavy heart.

That’s why Michelle loves him so and has remained faithful to him inside PDA. Now that Michelle is enjoying her guestings in such shows as Wazzup Wazzup and PDA Uplate and a recent interview over Balitang Europe, Minh again told her to go ahead.

In fact, he plans to visit her in the Philippines one day to see how she’s doing. By then, Michelle’s mom would have flown over to keep her eldest child company in the condo she plans to buy. Michelle’s Batangueña mom could even manage the Belgian Waffle franchise her daughter will put up as part of her prize.

"I already told my boyfriend I plan to settle in the Philippines. And we’ve discussed the problems the distance between us will bring," admits Michelle.

Minh as usual, is willing to sacrifice, she adds. And – if worst comes to worst – Michelle won’t return to Amsterdam anymore due to her workload, Minh is again willing to give way. He knows how important her dream of being a star in the Philippines is to Michelle. And he doesn’t have the heart to get in the way.

Michelle won’t have a hard time adjusting anyway. Even if she lived most of her life in Amsterdam, where she studied Tourism Management, Michelle has absorbed the Pinoy ways like a sponge. She eats balut, understands Filipino and is as musical as the Pinoy next door.

She’d sing every third Sunday of the month in a Catholic church where many Filipinos flock to worship. Michelle even sings with a group of dancers in Holland and Germany.

The Philippines is not foreign territory to Michelle. Her mom has taken her here 12 or 13 times, the first time when Michelle was five to six years old.

Mother and daughter stay with Michelle’s grandmother in Mabini, Batangas when they’re in town.

And she doesn’t mind the warm Philippine weather. She even enjoys it.

Michelle may not know what’s in store for her yet. But she’s willing to give it her best shot. For starters, she’s bent on getting a voice coach to further hone her singing and learn Tagalog more.

Given a choice, she’d like to specialize in drama, with Aga Muhlach (her face breaks into a wide, wide smile at the mention of his name) and Sharon Cuneta.

Someone willing to do everything – even sacrifice her lovelife – for her dream like Michelle Bond does, deserves a shot at every thing showbiz dangles so temptingly to anyone who wants to give it a try.