As we go to press, word got to Funfare Update late yesterday afternoon that Gretchen Barretto was packing her things and leaving the mansion in Forbes Park which she and her beloved Tonyboy Cojuangco and their daughter Dominique have been sharing even during these past turbulent years.
“Tonyboy drove her away,” said the Funfare Update DPA, refusing to elaborate.
Since calls to Gretchen from Funfare Update were unanswered (she could “not be reached”), all we could do is speculate (as of now) what finally, so to speak, broke the camel’s back.
Since two years ago when Gretchen got involved in the so-called “kisscandal” with John Estrada, Funfare Update sources said that things have never ever been the same again between her and Tonyboy. Matters worsened when Gretchen was romantically linked to a businessman who is separated from his wife and who has a love child with an actress/beauty-queen. Gretchen and Tonyboy sometimes openly fought in public, like during Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s birthday party early this year at The Blue Leaf in Taguig City.
There were rumors that Gretchen had been sleeping over at the businessman’s condo unit at The Fort, Taguig City, something which Gretchen dismissed with a laugh.
“Gretchen doesn’t seem to hide whatever relationship she has with the businessman,” said somebody close to her. “She gets invited to the affairs of the businessman’s relatives. Once, Gretchen even checked into a five-star hotel for a weekend holiday with the businessman’s kids.”
Gretchen has been vocal about her long-time wish for Tonyboy to marry her. But there’s a hitch: Tonyboy’s first marriage (to Denise Yabut) hasn’t been annulled.
It’s not the first time that Gretchen was rumored to have left, or been “driven away” by Tonyboy from their Forbes Park home.
“But this time,” the Funfare Update DPA was sure, “it’s for real. Gretchen is leaving only with her things and not with Dominique who remains with Tonyboy.”
Funfare Update will get the “real score” from Gretchen as soon as she’s available.
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@phil-star.net.ph or at entphilstar@yahoo.com)