My head’s under water
But I’m breathing fine
You’re crazy and I’m out of my mind
‘Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I’ll give my all to you
You’re my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I’m winning
‘Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you,
Give me all of you
Cards on the table, we’re both showing hearts
Risking it all, though it’s hard— from All Of Me by John Legend
It’s Wednesday, July 2, a little past 4 o’clock on a drizzly afternoon.
Taking a break from whatever it is she’s taping at the ABS-CBN Studio, Sarah Geronimo arrives at Melo’s, right across from the studio, with a coterie led by her mom Divine.
She’s in a flaming-red long-sleeved blouse, wearing a big smile and instantly lighting up the restaurant’s function room which Jollibee, the food chain she’s endorsing, has rented for this exclusive Conversation. Before the pictorial, Sarah makes sure that she’s wearing a Swatch (presumably a gift to her by her boyfriend Matteo Guidicelli who is endorsing it).
Unlike in the past when her eyes betrayed a certain sadness even when she tried desperately hard to look happy, this time her eyes are shining like morning stars. The eyes of a woman in love, very much in love, full of great expectations as she turns 26 on July 25.
Only three weeks earlier, Sarah finally admitted what was very obvious all the while — that she and Matteo are “on,” something she won’t confirm but revealed in a Philippine STAR scoop in October last year. Since then, Sarah and Matteo acted as if in a pact not to breathe a word about whatever private sweetness they were savoring, with Sarah begging off during encounters with the movie press to wait for the right time for any “announcement”…if any…even if, in the following weeks, the couple’s friends (with their consent?) would spice up the social media with photos of Sarah and Matteo holding hands while she dedicated a song (yes, All Of Me, their unofficial theme song) to Matteo during his 25th birthday party last March, their eyes locked in quiet connivance; Sarah and Matteo watching a race with their friends Judy Ann Santos and husband Ryan Agoncillo; Matteo with arms wrapped around Sarah while apparently inside a moviehouse with a couple (cropped from the posted photo); Sarah and Matteo sharing a dinner with friends at his home.
Well, if a picture paints a thousand words, imagine how many thousands of words a dozen of pictures would paint?
The “feelers” were initially floated by people to them. Direk Wenn Deramas promptly posted on his Facebook a text that he said must have been missent to him by Matteo: Good morning, Mahal. Usually, said Wenn, all Matteo would text him was “Good morning, direk.” So Wenn texted Matteo back, teasing him, “O, Mahal na pala ang tawag mo sa akin, ha!” According to Matteo, the text was, indeed, missent. It was intended for Sarah.
A few days later, during the blowout for the box-officer success (more than P130M at the tills) of Maybe This Time, Sarah’s movie with Coco Martin, she mustered enough guts to confess, “Yes, Matteo is my boyfriend!”
Mum all the while, gentleman Matteo (who is descended from an influential and respected clan in Cebu, with former Sen. and Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan as an uncle) said in an interview with ABS-CBN North America News Bureau while participating in an event organized by The Filipino Channel in New York, that he’s happy that he can finally call Sarah his girlfriend — “It’s not just Sarah,” he was quoted as saying. “It’s Sarah, my girlfriend. I’m really proud of her. On a serious note, I’m very, very proud of her,” describing Sarah as an “amazing” person and that she deserves to be happy, taking his hat off to her “for standing on her own.”
There was a big reason to celebrate. After all, it has been reported that Sarah’s parents, especially her mom Divine, frowned on Sarah having a boyfriend just yet, scaring away such Sarah admirers (read: prospective suitors) as John Lloyd Cruz, Rayver Cruz and Gerald Anderson, leaving Matteo as the brave one, pursuing Sarah, as the poet would say, harangan man ng sibat.
“I’ll do anything for love,” Matteo was quoted by philstar.com writer Chuck Smith in an interview last March. “If I love the person, I would fight for what I think is right.”
And the winner is…!!!
Wednesday afternoon as she sits across from me, asking for only a glass of water (“No ice, please!”), Sarah is in her element. You can almost feel her heart beating. She’s so transparent that it’s easy to monitor her mind and read her lips. She’s opening up but not too much, every now and then glancing at mom Divine who is seated nearby, but not too close as to hear every word that Sarah is saying. Actually, she’s stingy with words but she’s saying it all and saying it best, to quote a popular song, by saying nothing at all.
As a nod to the Jollibee guys hosting the interview (by the way, it’s The STAR given away to customers at Jollibee outlets), I opened the one-on-one with a Jollibee question. (Sarah is endorsing Chickenjoy which becomes “pasarap nang pasarap” as Sarah’s life turns “better and better, sweeter and sweeter.”)
“I endorse a product only when I believe in it,” said Sarah. “Your credibility as an endorser is at stake. Endorsing Jollibee is a dream come true, kasi I remember noong hirap kami sa buhay, tuwing nakakaluwag kami saka lang ako dinadala ng parents ko sa Jollibee. My favorite was Burger Steak and Chickenjoy. Mga kaklase ko, nanlilibre din sa akin. One of these days, ililibre ko rin sila.”
For a shampoo commercial, you cut your hair…
“…very understanding naman po ang Sunsilk.”
They say that when a woman cuts her hair, either she’s trying to forget a sad past or, in your case daw, a sign of quiet rebellion against your parents because they didn’t approve (daw) of your relationship with Matteo.
“Hehehehehe!!!”
You’re always busy with shows (among them the ABS-CBN talent search The Voice Philippines in which she sits as coach together with Bamboo and Lea Salonga), movies (a new one with John Lloyd Cruz), commercial shoots and concerts here and abroad (she just came back from a hit concert in Singapore). Do you ever have time for yourself?
“Mayroon naman po. I have a lighter schedule these days. May mga araw na wala akong trabaho so I am with my family or my friends. Ganyan.”
Aside from Judy Ann and Ryan, who are your trusted friends?
“Si Nikki (Gil), si Rachelle (Ann Go) who is in London (for Miss Saigon) pero continuous ang communication namin.”
What’s your birthday wish?
“Birthday wish?”
A, sorry, natupad na pala…last year pa, hehehehe!
“Hmmm, birthday wish? Ano lang po, siguro sana patuloy lang po ‘yung pagmamahalan sa amin, sa buong pamilya, at saka ‘yung…’yung…Of course, I want those that I love to be happy. Nagkakaintindihan lahat.”
You got it already. Nagkakaintindihan na lahat, di ba? (Asked what she has to say, mom Divine shrugs, “No comment.”)
“Hehehehehe!!!”
Your aura is very positive. It’s obvious that you are…at last, at last!...happy already.
“You know, work in progress naman lahat, eh. Things don’t happen overnight. Kasi siempre…” (Trying to find the right words)…”Kumbaga, lahat po na nangyayari sa akin is a first, di ba? Hindi naman maipagkakaila. It’s part of my growing up siguro, isn’t it? Siguro in time, everything will be okay.”
Did you time your admission (about you and Matteo) to be made during the Maybe This Time blowout?
“Not really timing. At that time, I thought na wala namang masama na aminin ko na kasi naging open naman po kami sa paglabas-labas namin, so I thought it was enough for people to understand na kami na. I felt that gusto ng mga tao na marinig straight from us, so hayun…”
Have you talked it out with your mom?
“Hmmmmm….”
After all, you will be 26 already.
“Hehehehehe!!!”
What do you like most about Matteo?
“Siguro, ‘yung patience niya.”
He was really patient and persistent. Ang dami rin niyang pinagdaanan pero he never gave up.
“Sana magtuluy-tuloy po…’yung kanyang pag-iintindi.”
Matagal na raw may crush sa’yo si Matteo. He was in Catch Me I’m In Love, your movie with Gerald (the suitor who quit). Didn’t you notice it when you were making the movie?
“I heard about it at that time, long before he left for the States and before we did the movie.”
When did you start going steady?
“Hmmmmm….”
Paano ba nanligaw si Matteo?
“Hmmmm…hehehehe!”
You have met Matteo’s family and vice-versa, haven’t you? I heard that Matteo’s family is fond of you. Botong-boto daw sa’yo.
“I am not sure of that. If it’s true, ako ang pinaka-masaya po. All I can say is that they are very nice to me, talagang sobrang mabait po sila. I have met his mom several times. Mabait na mabait.”
How sure are you that Matteo is The One?
“Naku, nobody can tell, nobody knows. Walang nakakaalam kundi si Lord lang. Ang magagawa ko lang po sa relationship na ito ay maging tapat at siempre maibigay ang totoong pagmamahal. As long as you are true to someone at wala kang guilty feeling na kahit ano ang mangyari sure ka na ibinigay mo ang tapat mong pagmamahal, that’s the most important thing. And, of course, we pray that everything will turn out right.”
Any other wishes on your birthday?
“One, sana 10 more years akong endorser ng Jollibee. Two, love and peace in the world, pagmamahalan at kapayapaan sa buong mundo.” (Then, she laughs and laughs, her laughter ringing with glad tidings of great joy!)
And your wish for you and Matteo?
“Kasama na doon sa love and peace.” (Then, she laughs some more, the laughter of a 26-year-old who is free to love and enjoy life, at last!)
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)