Pietro + Ellen = ??????

Can you solve the equation?

Well, easy does it: Put Pietro Boselli, The World’s Sexiest Math Teacher, and Ellen Adarna, probably Local Showbiz’s Sexiest Star, together and what do you get? Your guess is as good as anybody’s.

They have met only virtually ­— on social media, that is — and not in the flesh (no “malice” intended, hehehe!!!) but Bench big boss Ben Chan can easily make that close encounter possible sooner than soon.

Like Ellen, Pietro is a Bench endorser (for the company’s new collection of underwear and sporty separates). If and when that happens…and it will, just you wait!!!...Pietro and Ellen will raise the summer temperature to boiling point. Hot, indeed!

The Italian Hunk is here both to drumbeat for Bench and to promote Bench projects including “Education is My Muscle” for which Pietro traveled with Ben to Davao where they helped plant trees, brought meals and donated 300 school bags with supplies to the Bayanihan Elementary School students in the town of Marilag. Anywhere and everywhere he goes, Pietro generates the same excitement as he does on social media. 

At a media event last Sunday that capped the Bench’s Fashion Week, Pietro was asked who among the Filipino women he would like to meet and, of the millions of beautiful and sexy Filipinas alive, he singled out…drum roll, please!...Ellen Adarna. Eat you heart out, girls!!!

Of course, netizens lapped it up with gusto!

“I just wanted to say to Ellen that what I said at the press conference is true. I did see your picture, and I thought you were really beautiful. So that wasn’t a planted answer at all. And I’m really looking forward to meeting you. I don’t know why they haven’t introduced us yet,” clarified Pietro, who is turning 29 this year.

Naturally, Ellen was tickled pink. Just recovered from a brief but controversial romance with First Son Baste Duterte (simultaneously with his non-showbiz girlfriend who is the mother of his love child), Ellen posted a reply on her Instagram, “Hi, Pietro! I saw your interview and I realized, all of a sudden, that I love Math!,” adding, “Anyway, I can’t wait to see you, and I will make time for you. Charot! Sabeh!”

Asked how much did she know about Pietro, Ellen told Funfare, “I don’t know much about him yet but hopefully, I will meet him because we have the same management agency.”

To help Ellen know Pietro better, Funfare made a little research.

Towering at 6’1”, the brown-haired, green-eyed Pietro was born in the northern Italian town of Negrar (near Venice). At age six, he was discovered by and began modeling for Armani Junior, studied Mechanical Engineering at the University College London and graduated with honors in 2010, started his Doctor of Philosophy candidature the same year while teaching undergraduate mathematics to mechanical engineering students. He completed his Ph.D. study in February last year. Two years earlier, a student took note of his body-to-die-for and posted it on his Facebook. It went viral. Soon, Pietro was dubbed “The World’s Sexiest Math Teacher.” Hello, modeling!!! And the rest is his-tory. As of latest count, Pietro has more than two million followers on his Instagram.

Asked by The Guardian in a 2015 interview what pleasure he got from solving maths (yes, he pronounces it with an “s”) problems, Pietro answered, “I discovered this pleasure when I was 16. I am sure anyone with a passion for maths relates to the pleasure of sitting at a desk with a pencil and paper until the problem is solved.”

Asked by WMagazine in a 2016 interview what his fitness routine was, Pietro answered, “Working out has always been an integral part of my life. I grew up near the Alps, so I was very much into outdoor activities like climbing and trail running. When I moved to London, I started going to the gym. And now that I travel a lot, I still manage to do one or two workouts in a day wherever I go. It helps with everything. Even my Ph.D. studies. It gives you a clear mind. Keeps me structured and feeling good. My workouts are really intense. I like going in and smashing it out. The gym is not a place where I hang out.”

I leave it to Ellen to discover (uncover?) more about Pietro when they meet.

Judging from Pietro’s picture, what part of his body does Ellen find attractive?

“His shoulders.”

Does Pietro meet her “requirements” for an ideal man?

“YES! Smart, tall, good-looking so he has good genes.”

If ever, how would she entertain Pietro?

“Play the piano and sing or karaoke. And eat!!!”

Now that she has suddenly gotten interested in Math, what other “subjects” would Ellen want Pietro to teach her?

“Art and science.”

And what was her favorite subject in school?

“Physics. I’m really good in physics! Promise walang echos!!!”

What was her grade in Math?

“Basta pumasa ako!”

Incidentally, asked by The Guardian if he could solve a Rubik’s Cube, Pietro said, “I never even attempted. I somehow always had something against it. (It was designed by an architect.)”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)