Between showbiz & basketball

It’s a hard decision to make and Ricci Rivero admitted it.

Caught between showbiz and basketball, he feels like being torn between two loves, a tricky situation, especially if half your heart beats for one and the other half beats for the other. Ricci is with the UP Fighting Maroons and a regular in TV5’s Sunday Noontime Live (SNL). He’s a shining star in both fields, adored by showbiz-basketball-crazy fans.

“I think I have enough time to make up my mind,” Ricci told Funfare. “As of now, honestly I still don’t know. But for sure, I will keep my fans posted through my social-media accounts.”

While every Sunday Ricci appears on SNL (with main hosts Piolo Pascual, Catriona Gray, Maja Salvador, Jake Ejercito and Donny Pangilinan), he has yet to resume practice for the games, although in his free time, according to him, “I still dribble, I shoot and I continue to train, especially now that I have found a basketball court.”

Also put on hold is a movie titled Happy Times (unfinished), his second foray into the big screen after Otlum (Multo spelled backwards), the 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry.

As a nod to fans’ request, Funfare did a little “body talk” with Ricci (full name: Ricci Paolo Uy Rivero, turned 22 last May 25; studied in La Salle Greenhills and De La Salle University [he was with the Green Archers team] before he transferred to UP).

• He “barely eats breakfast, eats anything for lunch and dinner,” and always craves for lutong-bahay, especially when he and his family are vacationing in Isabela where his mom hails from.

• He works out every day no matter how busy he is (no wonder he is fit and fabulous).

• Part of body that needs improvement: The lower and upper parts (“Working hard on them during the lockdown”).

• Favorite part of body: “My core.”

• Part of a girl’s body that he looks at first: “Her eyes.”

• Ideal girl: “Simple, family-oriented and God-fearing.”

• Amount of sleep per night: “Eight to 10 hours...that is, if I don’t have a late-night shoot or early-morning shoot.”

• Favorite sleepwear: “Boxer shorts or pajamas.”

• Ever sleep in the nude? “I tried it a couple of times but that’s really not my thing.”

• Last thing that he does before going to sleep: “Wash my face and apply skin protection.”

• First thing he does as soon as he wakes up: “Pray, check my phone, wash my face or take a shower.”

• How he unwinds: “Go out-of-town (pre-pandemic) with family and people close to me. I maintain my small circle of people, limited to my family and close friends.”

• Three words that best describe him: “Simple, naughty and unpredictable.”

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