Dingdong Dantes: The First Time/The Last Time

Did you know how Dingdong Dantes got his nickname?

Believe it or not but he doesn’t.

His full name is Jose Sixto Dantes III and Dingdong is the farthest monicker one could ever think of. (Would showbiz only other Dingdong – Avanzado, that is – have any explanation?)

Maybe Dingdong is fond of pressing... doorbells?

That’s the last thing Dingdong could think of.

But first, the lingering question showbiz-watchers have been asking: Who was the first person Dingdong broke the news to when he decided to go steady with Karylle (daughter of estranged couple Dr. Modesto Tatlonghari and Zsa Zsa Padilla)?

Yes, Antoinette Taus, now based in L.A., with whom Dingdong went steady for years. Long-distance romances don’t usually stand the test of time, do they?

"We had a closure," insisted Dingdong who’s starring with Karylle and Iza Calzado in a GMA Films movie, Moments of Love, whose plot seems to be a bearing on Dingdong’s love life. "I don’t leave anything unfinished before I start on something new."

Directed by Mark Reyes (from a screenplay by Gina Marissa Tagasa), Moments of Love is "a bittersweet tale of timeless love between two people caught in different time periods." Dingdong’s character, Marco, is torn between two loves – for Divina (Iza) who lives in the 1950s and for Lianne (Karylle) who lives in the present. It’s a somewhat complicated love story, so don’t blink when you watch it (showing in Metro Manila theaters starting on Wednesday, March 29).

Meanwhile, let’s unravel the little "mysteries" in Dingdong’s life by making him recall its salient "first time" and "last time."

• He Kissed a Girl

"The first time was...Sorry, I can’t remember. It was a long, long time ago. Besides, sa dami ng nahalikan ko nang girls, how could I remember?

"The last time was Thursday night during the advance screening of Moments of Love. Who did I kiss? Of course, my girlfriend – Karylle!"

• He Said ‘I Love You’ to a Girl

"The first time was when I was a kid – to my mom.

"The last time was also Thursday night at the advance showing of Moments of Love – to Karylle."

• He Fell Really in Love With a Girl

"I don’t want to say when is the first time; I’d rather say that it gets better every time, all the time.

"The last time? I believe that I’m always in love, so there shouldn’t, there wouldn’t be a last time."

• He Broke a Girl’s Heart

"Let me tell you a funny story... There was this girl whom I met in a restaurant a few years ago whose heart I broke without my knowing it. When I met her again, my mind was blank because of lack of sleep. In short, I wasn’t myself. I’m the type of person who remembers names and faces but at that moment when I met the girl again, my mind was somewhere else. Obviously, she was telling her friends that she knew me, that we had met before. When we bumped into each other at the corridor, she smiled at me but I didn’t smile back. As I’ve said, wala ako sa sarili. Napahiya siya sa friends niya. I felt really bad. The girl has become a good friend of mine.

"The last time? I hope it doesn’t happen again." (Asked if he felt that he broke the heart of Antoinette when he started going steady with Karylle barely a month after he and Antoinette parted ways, Dingdong said, "I don’t want to say that I broke her heart. She was the first person I told about Karylle and me. We had a closure before Karylle and I began going steady.")

• He Felt Broken-Hearted

"It had nothing to do with a girl but with my work. The first time was when I was new in the business and I couldn’t do some scenes right and the way I wanted to do them. Nakakasama ng loob. Feeling ko broken-hearted ako, as if I was jilted by a girl.

"The last time? It has also something to do with my work. It happened when I did a heavy scene in Moments of Love. My character was feeling sorry for himself in the scene and I really put myself in his shoes. I felt broken-hearted like him." (Asked if he has ever been turned down by a girl, Dingdong said, "I hope it doesn’t happen. You know what my style is when I’m courting a girl? Yes, I show her my worst side. Why? So she’ll know me better. It’s up to her to find out what my good side is.")

• He Was Unfaithful

"The first time? None. Never!

"The last time? None Never!"

• He Cried Really Hard

"The first time was when I was in high school and I went on a retreat. As send-off, my family and friends wrote letters to me. I was so touched reading the letters that I cried and cried. I realized how much they loved me.

"The last time? I wouldn’t say that I cried really hard, medyo naging very emotional lang ako. That was when we gave our mom a surprise party. Seeing her so happy made me cry. That also happened when I surprised Karylle on her birthday last March 22. For a few seconds, I was speechless, emotional. I struggled to hold back tears."

• He Felt On Top of The World

"The first time was when I graduated from high school (at Ateneo). It was a difficult journey for me because at that time I was already in showbiz. I thought I’d never finish high school on time.

"The last time was last February when I directed an episode for my own show, ’Wag Kukurap (on GMA 7). It was a dream come true."

• He Felt Depressed

"The first time was when Encantadia (temporarily) ended. I love my character, Ybrahim, so much that I terribly missed him. I felt so lonely. Ybrahim felt so much like a second skin to me that I looked forward to the taping.

"The last time? That was the first and last time."

• He Told a Lie

"The first time was when I was in first year high school. I went on a gimik and I told my mom that I’d be home early but I lied. I went home very late. I felt bad because I’m a person who hates telling a lie. I believe in the saying, ‘Honesty is the best policy.’

"The last time? Now! I’m kidding. You see, I hate dishonest people. Dishonest people and liars are in the same group. Sabi nga, ang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw."

• He Gave Karylle a Gift

"The first time was last year. It was a simple gift – a bracelet made of straw. A banig bracelet. Mura lang. But it was my favorite; it has some sentimental value to me. I used that bracelet for my character in Twin Hearts.

"The last time was during her birthday. I gave her a bag."

• He Met His Future Mother-In-Law (Zsa Zsa Padilla)

"The first time was last year. I always saw her as a respectable lady and that’s how I see her up to now.

"The last time was during Karylle’s birthday. Actually, Karylle and I see her all the time."

• He Met His Future Father-In-Law (Dr. Modesto Tatlonghari)

"The first time was in S.O.P. (the GMA Sunday show).

"The last time was Thursday night at the advance screening of Moments of Love." (Dingdong calls his future in-laws Tita Zsa Zsa and Tito M.)

• He Prayed Really Hard

"There’s no first time or last time because I pray all the time. Everytime I pray, I do so with sincerity, not just in passing or in haste. I pray with my heart, fervently. What do I usually pray for? I never ask for more; I pray to thank The Lord for all the blessings and for guidance."

• He Felt Intimations of Mortality (Read: Close Brush With Death)

"The first time was last year. I was riding a bike from Tagaytay and I tried to overtake a car. I didn’t notice that I was an inch away from a huge manhole. When I saw it, nanlambot ang tuhod ko. One little wrong move and I could have fallen into it and... who knows what could have happened?

"The last time? I have been careful since then. I hope it doesn’t happen again, knock on wood!"

• He Lost His Temper

"I’m basically a cool person, so I seldom, if ever, lose my temper. What makes me mad? When my family and loved ones are dragged into showbiz issues and controversies."

• The First Thing He Does When He Wakes Up

"Check my cellphone for ‘missed’ calls and messages."

• The Last Thing He Does Before Going to Sleep

"I pray."

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