Kim, Xian click as screen sweethearts

The romantic-comedy movie Bride for Rent starring Kim Chiu and Xian Lim is a mega box-office hit earning close to P200M in just over a week. The movie earned P21.2M on its opening day.

Directed by Mae Czarina Cruz, Bride for Rent is the much-awaited follow-up movie of Kim and Xian. The story revolves around Rocky (Kim) who joins an audition and meets Rocco (Xian), a rich guy desperate to get his inheritance from his grandmother (Pilita Corrales). Rocky agrees with Rocco to be his pseudo wife in exchange for a large sum of money. Either of them is aware that they can fall in love with each other.

 The onscreen loveteam of Kim and Xian was first introduced through the 2011 hit teleserye My Binondo Girl where they played Jade and Andy, respectively. Now, they are considered one of the most bankable loveteams in local showbiz.

They recently guested in Buzz ng Bayan to promote their new movie. As expected, their fans were inside the studio to support their idols. Many wanted to join but only three were selected to ask questions. When asked what song they would dedicate for each other, Xian chose the song Hero while Kim answered Chinito.

Kim revealed that she gave Xian a carpet for his house last Christmas. Kim explained, “Bago kasi ang house niya. Pinapakita niya iyong picture. Parang may kulang. Sabi ko, ‘May kulang dito, diyan.’” Meanwhile, Xian gave her two gifts but Kim revealed only one during the interview. “Iyong shoes. May gusto kasi akong shoes. Every day kaming nag-sho-shooting. Wala nang time. Parang nadaanan lang namin. ‘Ay ang ganda! Babalikan ko.’ Di ko na nabalikan ng isang buwan, dalawang buwan. Tapos noong Christmas sabi niya, ‘Buksan mo iyan. Ma-e-excite ka kapag nabuksan mo.’ Sabi ko, ‘Mamaya na. Wala pang 25.’ Tapos pag-open ko, ay iyon (shoes) na nga.”

Kim admitted that Xian went to their house last Dec. 24 together with his mommy and lola. “Wala kasing pagkain sa amin so nakikain ako sa kanila,” Xian said in jest.

At what age do they plan to get married? Xian chortled, “Siguro, right on the top of my head, siguro mga 40. Ang tanda na!” But Kim wants to settle down before she turns 30.

According to Kim, her favorite scene in Bride for Rent is the audition scene because she had many adlibs. “Kung ano ang lumabas sa bibig ni direk, iyon ang sasagutin ko. Iyon ang gagawin ko.”

As for Xian, it’s the part where Kim said, “Don’t you dare fall in love with me.” I asked him if it were to happen in real life and Kim said to him, “Seryoso, Xian, don’t you dare fall in love with me,” what will he tell her? He answered, “I can’t help but fall in love with you.”

Billy on Coleen

“Yes, nililigawan ko. She is not my girlfriend yet and I would love for her to be.” This was Billy Crawford’s declaration in Buzz ng Bayan when asked if he is courting Coleen Garia, his co-host in It’s Showtime.

Coleen is the alleged third party in the break-up of Billy and Nikki Gil. Several photos of Billy and Coleen together went viral. There were photos of them inside a bar in Bacolod. Both of them denied that they are in a romantic relationship. Last December, pictures of the two watching an NBA game in New York spread online.

He clarified their photos in New York last holiday season. â€œIt’s vacation time. The Showtime family, we all had different places to go. I was talking to Coleen and I said I was going to New York to see old friends, to see my family. And then Coleen said, ‘Oh, I’ll be in New York, too, with my friend.’ And then later before leaving, I found out that Ryan Bang was also going to New York. We met up with Ryan as well.”

“But to be honest with you, yes, I did ask Coleen to watch the game with me before leaving. I bought the tickets beforehand and I said, ‘You know what, I would love to go there in New York and actually spend time with you, to watch the game and have dinner,’” Billy said.

He vehemently denied that Coleen is the reason why he and Nikki separated. “I know she really wanted to pull away at one point and really just didn’t want to have anything to do with me because of the speculations, because of everyone else speaking on our behalf. Pero ako bilang lalaki, I’ll pursue her. Paninindigan ko. I want to get to know her slowly.”

He had a message to Coleen, “I just really want to say thank you. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be myself, to be real, to try to get to know me despite of all the things going on. You mean a lot to me. You motivate me to go to work every day and I just enjoy who I am now. And I just want to pursue trying to get to know you better. I will be here for you, as a friend or maybe even more. Thank you.”