Rhian Ramos isn't bothered by "play girl" tag

CEBU, Philippines - “For guys, it’s difficult when the girl is working and they’re not.”

That pretty much sums up why the blossoming romance that began on the set of the past GMA series “La Lola” between young stars Rhian Ramos and JC de Vera suddenly turned sour. That is, according to Rhian’s side of the story.

Rhian lengthily talked to The FREEMAN last Friday night at the Pacific Grand Ballroom of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. She was the guest performer for that evening’s 15th annual Grand Chamber Awards and Visayas Area Business Conference, singing two songs to spice up the event.

One thing we found out in our interview with the actress, what TV host and DJ Mo Twister said about her once is true. To quote Mo: “She’s very bright and funny. We all know ang ganda-ganda niya. Marami namang maganda sa showbiz, but what really stands out about Rhian is her brain. And that’s very attractive.”

For a 19-year-old, she talks sensibly and is very witty. She answered all questions thrown at her and didn’t attempt to mask her real feelings even at her expense. “I try not to say ‘no comment’ as much as I can,” she said when at the end of the interview we expressed surprise at her willingness to really pour her heart out.

“ERASER” ISSUE. JC, her former loveteam partner, recently guested on TV 5’s showbiz talk show “Paparazzi” and was asked to compare all of his ex-girlfriends to an object and state the reason behind it. He came up with relatively positive comparisons for his exes Michelle Madrigal (a pillow because she was nice to hug and cuddle), Pauleen Luna (a cellphone because their relationship ran, for the most part, through texts and calls) and Sexbomb dancer Aifah Medina (jewelry because their romance was the longest and she still is closest to his heart).

When it came to Rhian, he likened her to an eraser because “gusto ko na kasing burahin ang nakaraan ko sa kanya at kalimutan na ang lahat ng namagitan sa amin.”

Egged on by the “Paparazzi” hosts to explain further, JC said that he already once made a mistake in his life and would not want to repeat it. He admitted to have been very much affected by the conflict between his manager Anabelle Rama and GMA executive Wilma Galvante, more so that the person he expected to be there for him was nowhere to offer a shoulder.

Asked for a reaction, Rhian professed: “At first I was kind of shocked because back in the day, that wasn’t the JC that I knew. I don’t really know the JC that he has become because I haven’t been talking to him recently.”

She revealed that when her series with Dingdong Dantes “Stairway To Heaven” ended, she and JC were supposed to do a show together but that her demanding role as Jodie really took a toll on her.

“I was really tired. I went through a lot of emotions in ‘Stairway’ and I thought I had to collect myself again. I couldn’t do the next show; he went ahead and did it,” shared Rhian.

While JC hinted in his interviews that he and Rhian became an item, the Kapuso leading lady maintained that she has never been anyone’s girlfriend yet. She can only go as far as declaring that JC was the closest thing she’s had to a relationship.

“Interpretation is relative. This is my story. It came pretty close though. I can say I really fell. But obviously, there are a lot of reasons that we can’t be together. We no longer get along the way we thought we did.”

Were you in love with him?

“Yeah! I would think so. I don’t know much about love but I’m pretty sure that was it,” she candidly replied. “I think I have every right to be angry, but I’m not. I’ve always had an understanding for him. I still care about him and that wouldn’t change just because I was called an ‘eraser’. I can be called worse things.”

Rhian has had mutual understandings with other boys before, but she said the difference with her MU with JC was, “the commitment was there.”

She added: “I feel so stupid talking about this now because I had just turned 18 at that time and I was excited about the idea of having a suitor. I had eyes for no one else. I don’t really blame him for being mad. Because if there’s something else I’m passionate about, I really want to be a psychologist. So part of that is just to understand people.”

Rhian explained that the misunderstanding started when JC’s projects at GMA were stalled while she was swamped with work. Right after their tandem in “La Lola”, she quickly had a follow-up project, “Zorro”, while JC was placed in the middle of the Rama-Galvante rift.

“I did Zorro and I would be in Bataan all the time. Him naman, he had a case. So he would be at home a lot and I would be busy a lot. Kawawa naman kasi he was going through so much but I couldn’t be there for him,” Rhian recalled. “I was looking out for myself. He was looking out for himself.”

“For guys, it’s difficult when the girl is working and when they’re not. It makes them feel really bad. It escalates pa when the job of the person is to kiss someone else on national TV and show so much emotion. I’d say the hardest time he really had was during ‘Stairway’ because I would put my heart out there and he would ask me questions. And I would say, ‘Dude, it’s work.’”

But now that JC’s career has been reinvigorated with his numerous shows on the Kapatid network, he no longer has reasons to maybe harbor feelings of self-pity that his girl is in-demand while he’s stuck at home. Does Rhian feel there’s a chance for them to patch up now?

“The last thing I read was that even if I said hi to him, he wouldn’t even talk to me so I think that’s very far from happening,” she said. “But, you know, whatever I saw and felt for him before, it hasn’t changed. The reason why I liked him in the first place was because he was such a nice person. In the end, when things go wrong, I always keep in mind the nice person that I met.”

Amid all her love life woes, an advice from her dad who’s living abroad has proved helpful. “He told me that it doesn’t matter what is said or done to you. Don’t be bitter no matter what. If a person made you genuinely happy, even if it was just for a week, be thankful for that because you couldn’t have done that alone.”

PLAY GIRL IMAGE. During the Cebu episode of “Party Pilipinas” last April at the CICC, some backstage wags allegedly spotted Rhian and Brazilian model-actor Akihiro Sato cozying up in a corner. To set the record straight, we asked her if there was something going on between her and the hunk Akihiro.

“No!” she claimed. “I’ve hung out with him at least twice. He’s a great guy. It’s just that we don’t have many things in common. We have very limited things to talk about. Super nice and gwapo but we grew up very differently. The nice thing about him though is his personality. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him frown.”

 Back when Rhian was still new in showbiz, not too many were fond of her. Some haters spread innocent high school pictures of her online and branded her as the biggest flirt in school. She has been linked to many boys in showbiz, but has never admitted to having relationships with any of them.

As a result, she has been tagged a playgirl. Rhian is well aware of this but it doesn’t bother her because, “Whoever my future husband will be, as long as this doesn’t affect him, then I’m okay.”

Unlike the “playful” image others think of her, Rhian claimed she’s not the type who would make a move right away on a boy she likes.

“I would make the effort to get to know the person. I don’t wanna like them before getting to know them for sure. I’ve been burned in the past so I don’t wanna make the mistake of thinking I know someone when I really don’t.”

GLAM GIRLS. After “Stairway To Heaven”, Rhian took a break from TV shows but is regularly seen in the Sunday musical show “Party Pilipinas”. She does production numbers with the group called “Glam Girls” composed of herself, Heart Evangelista, Carla Abellana, Lovi Poe and Bianca King.

They all have busy schedules but Rhian is convincing the gals to hang out outside of the show and rehearsals because she thinks the girl bonding will help them come up with better performances.

Before the group was formed, she was already friends with Bianca, Heart and Lovi. With Carla, she went out of her way to befriend the newcomer. This was another side of her personality that is really admirable.

“You know when the new kid comes to school? I experienced that a lot because I’ve changed schools often. The worst feeling is to go there and not have anyone to talk to. And not so long ago, I was new in showbiz and I was scared out of my wits. So I don’t want anyone else to experience that. As much as possible, I try to be friendly when someone’s new.”

Of late, an alleged issue between Heart and Bianca has come up. The two reportedly do not acknowledge one another and even had a “stepping of the foot” incident during a rehearsal.

“Both of them are my friends. They’ve never been unkind to me in any way so I have no reason to be unkind to them. When this whole thing came out, they both confided in me. I never saw whatever happened.

“They have strong personalities. I don’t blame them. I have a very strong personality. I don’t know; maybe some people just don’t fit.”

As their common friend, Rhian is privy to the details of the conflict but out of respect for the two, she refused to divulge them. “I guess if anyone’s gonna talk about this, it should be them.”

She doesn’t think it wise to meddle, lest the spat worsens.

“When I talk to either one of them, I always try to implant the benefit of the doubt. Like if one says she did this, I would say maybe this happened that’s why. I don’t wanna get in the middle of the fight, baka ako naman yung magkamali.”