If Janet Jackson can, why can’t Ai-Ai?

If Janet Jackson can, why can’t Ai-Ai delas Alas? Janet was 50 when she gave birth. There have been several other cases, including Nanay Caring who conceived Ice (formerly Aiza) Seguerra, husband of FDCP head Liza Diño), when she was already into her early 50s.    

Hope springs eternal, so they say, and Ai-Ai hangs on to that hope (against hope) that, heaven permitting, she and husband Gerald Sibayan (a certified, though not yet full-fledged, pilot) can have their first child — at the ripe (not-so-old) age of 54.

“God willing, Gerald and I will have that baby by November next year,” Ai-Ai reiterated at the presscon for And Ai, Thank You!, a Reality Entertainment/Horseshoe Studio joint venture directed by Joven Tan, showing nationwide starting on Wednesday, Aug. 14.

“Tulad ng parati kong sinasabi, mayroon na kaming naka-reserved na embryo na puede ko nang ipagbuntis anytime my doctor gives me the go-signal. I am ready emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically,” assured Ai-Ai who is a Marian devotee. “I’ve been training and working out, and I feel that my back is strong enough. I really want to do it the natural way, na ako ang magbubuntis. Now, I leave it all to the Lord.” (She already has three children, Sancho the eldest is in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.)

Otherwise, Ai-Ai said she would resort to IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) or find a surrogate mother just like what Korina Sanchez and Joel Cruz did (he has several sets of twins and isn’t stopping just yet to have more).

Among Ai-Ai’s costars are Rufa Mae Quinto, who is making a movie comeback after getting married and giving birth...

Before she goes on a year-long maternity leave (that is, if ever) effective January, Ai-Ai has to finish shooting another movie intended for this December’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) with Coco Martin and Jennylyn Mercado. She has two movies shown this year, SONS (Sons Of Nanay Sabel) with Ex Battalion which she used to manage and Feellenials with Bayani Agbayani.

“For a change,” said Ai-Ai, “in And Ai, Thank You!, iba ang role ko, parating maganda ang suot ko,” unlike in her award-winning starrers (Area and School Service) in which she plays an aging prostitute running a brothel and as a member of a syndicate that kidnaps children, respectively.      

In And Ai, Thank You!, she plays Aileen dela Rosa, a famous actress, top endorser and concert performer whose reign is threatened by upstart Ursula de Villa (Rufa Mae Quinto) who stops at nothing to topple Aileen who is terminally ill (with six months to live).

“It’s true what they say that it’s lonely at the top,” noted Ai-Ai. “That’s the dilemma of my character Aileen deja Rosa and I myself has experienced it. All these years, I’ve been so busy that I hardly have time for myself. But unlike Aileen who must do everything to keep her crown, I am now at a point in my life where I can relax and take it easy. I have proven myself and I think wala na akong dapat patunayan pa.”

As if following the never-ending showbiz cycle, And Ai, Thank You! has a curious twist. Years ago in her heyday, Rufa Mae was a bida in the movie Booba and guess who her supporting-actress-kontrabida was...yes, Ai-Ai delas Alas! The table has been turned. At the presscon, Rufa said she was thankful for what she described as her “second chance,” admitting that she thought she wouldn’t be able to bounce back after she got married (to Fil-Am Trevor Magallanes) and bore a child.

“It seemed that people were making me feel that I am growing old,” confessed Rufa Mae who is back in tip-top shape (although minus a few more pounds wouldn’t be that bad). “I realized what life is. I have had my time at darating ang time na hindi dapat ipilit o pilitin ang hindi para sayo,” conceding that she’s happy about the emergence of new comedic talents and wishing them well.

Rufa Mae added that she finds inspiration in Ai-Ai who, she noted, became a box-office star when she did Tanging Ina at age 40, clarifying she didn’t mean that the same would happen to her.

...and Juliana Parizcova Segovia, the first-ever winner of Miss Q&A, the It’s Showtime talent search that inspired the movie’s title.

“Alam ko naman kung saan na ako nakalugar ngayon. I know where I stand.”

Incidentally, the title of the movie must have been inspired by the Miss Q&A segment of It’s Showtime in which the gay contestants were required to end their greetings with “And I thank you!”

When you hear that phrase, who comes to your mind — none other than Juliana Parizcova Segovia, the first-ever winner (2018) of the search. The movie wouldn’t be complete without her, right?

“I was starstruck when I did a scene with Miss Ai-Ai,” recalled Juliana who pocketed P1M as part of her Miss Q&A prizes. She’s now also in the cast of Ang Probinsyano.

Her life has changed considerably. She said that she spent part of the P1M on paying debts. She and her mom have moved from a cramped (crowded) apartment to a better place, just she and her mom, also in Pasay City. She doesn’t have a car yet so she takes Grab to work.

“Nakikinig ako sa mga payo ng mga taong katulad ni Ate Vice Ganda...to save. I thought that one million was forever, hindi pala, madali pala mawala. So many things to pay. I know that showbiz is not forever so I save.”

Juliana won Miss Q&A hands down, minus dentures (her trademark). A sponsor offered to buy her a new set of teeth but Juliana said no, thank you.

“I’m happy without it, I’m used to not having it. People have known me as I am. If I started wearing dentures, baka mawalan ako ng identity.”

That’s the tooth of the matter. And I thank you!