Diana back in circulation

It’s immaterial why she was gone; what matters is she’s back in circulation.

When you tune in to TV5’s Untold Stories on Thursday night (8 to 9), you will see Diana Zubiri as trim and as pretty and as bubbly as she was the last time we saw her Bubble Gang which is at 15 years GMA’s longest-running show (along with Startalk).

Untold Stories dramatizes real-life Barangay cases aired on Face to Face hosted by Amy Perez who also anchors Untold Stories. In Thursday’s episode, Diana plays the pregnant woman accused of her vasectomized husband of infidelity and immorality, only for the husband to backtrack and give the wife an apologetic embrace when a medical expert testified that the vasectomy wasn’t done well and therefore the husband was still capable of getting his wife pregnant.

The story touched a sensitive spot in Diana’s heart.

“That’s why I accepted the offer,” says Diana. “When I saw a DVD copy of the episode, I cried.”

Diana is good at both comedy (Bubble Gang, etc.) and drama (in such soaps as Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan, Babangon Ako’t Dudurugin Kita, etc.). In her almost 10 years in the business, she has amply proven her talent in several movies, most of them dramedies, including Bakat; Shake, Rattle & Roll; Bikini Open; and One Night Only (her last movie). She also did a memorable turn in Charo Santos-Concio’s Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK) in 2003 and Diana hopes Charo will cast her in another MMK episode.

Asked why she had disappeared (without a trace, hehehehe!), Diana says she has decided to go back to school.

“It has been my dream to finish college,” adds Diana, “so I enrolled in a four-year film course at an exclusive school. I attend classes every day.”

Sorry but Diana cannot reveal the name of the school.

“I’m not supposed to do sexy roles anymore,” she says. “I asked the school’s permission before I accepted the Untold Stories offer and I’m thankful na pinayagan naman nila ako.”

Briefly noted

• From Ovation Productions’ Renen de Guia, a rejoinder to the item about Taylor Swift (photo)February 2011 concert in Manila: This is to clarify that Taylor Swift’s concert is not a promo tour but a full-length production, concert tour of Southeast Asia. An important announcement will be made on Nov. 1 by Ovation Productions, the officially confirmed promoter of Swift’s Manila concert in February.

• Nikki Gil (photo) is nominated for Best Actress (for The Red Shoes) in the first Vietnam International Film Festival. Nikki and director Raul Jorolan are flying to Vietnam today to grace the movie’s screening and for the party for the other Asian stars nominated in the filmfest, among them Hong Kong’s Daniel Wu. The awards night will be on Friday, Oct. 22. The Red Shoes has just been named Best Picture at the recently-concluded 27th Bogota Film Festival in Colombia.

• Readers’ feedback: Left out in the list of actors who have played Christ (in the Funfare story last Oct. 9) was Ted Neely in Jesus Christ Superstar and Max Von Sydow in The Greatest Story Ever Told... From Leslie Tugade and Lucy Miguel of Seatle, Washington, DC: The title of the movie Edna Diaz starred in with Christopher de Leon and Lorna Tolentino is Leap Year Ngayon, Lagot Ka, Pipikutin Kita (1976).

Baby boom in showbiz

It’s a boy for Krista Ranillo and Jefferson ‘Nino’ Lim (above) who are expecting their first-born in April next year, which is the birth month of the couple. The baby’s gender was confirmed by an ultrasound which Krista recently underwent. Meanwhile, sweethearts Paulo Avelino and LJ Reyes (middle) have decided to live together after LJ came home from New York with their baby, Ethan Akio. The couple plans to eventually get married. Joyce Jimenez (bottom, with daughter Jorya, turning a year old on Oct. 16) happily announced that she and husband Ely Egbalic are expecting their second child next March. Joyce is four months and half pregnant, that’s why she has cancelled her homecoming scheduled November and December.

Willie Nepomuceno, Outstanding QC Citizen

Willie Nepomuceno proudly receives his award from Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista (right) and Q.C. Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte as one of Quezon City’s 10 Outstanding Citizens at the recent Gabi ng Parangal. According to Willie, this photo was taken by Usec. Rolly Reyes, his fraternity brother from the UP Beta Sigma.

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