Joross & Roxanne: Strictly business

They’re no longer sweethearts since months back. But that doesn’t mean Joross Gamboa and Roxanne Guinoo are not on speaking terms. They can sit beside each other, talk about their break-up and their upcoming show, ABS-CBN’s Love Spell Presents Line to Heaven (premieres tomorrow after Your Song) and let bygones be bygones.

Or is it? It could be for Joross, who’d rather concentrate on basketball (he was a varsity team member way back in his St. James Academy days) than squire girls this time.

As for Roxanne, she may say that she’s ready to move on, harbors no regrets about the romance and is happy. But, in the same breath, she adds that Joross – her first love will always have a special place in her heart.

What’s the saying again? Yes, first love never dies, especially for the ladies.

"I fought for Joross," Roxanne strongly denies that she didn’t protect her ex-boyfriend from her family, who is said to be against seeing the baby in the family fall for a guy who is linked to many girls. And no, Roxanne defends her parents. Her folks back home are not against Joross.

But it’s true he has been linked to Jenny Hernandez, Katherine Luna and Michelle Madrigal. A cellphone photo of Joross kissing Christine Reyes also circulated wild and fast. Thus, compared to the overprotected Roxanne, Joross seems to be a man of the world.

Soft-spoken, reserved Roxanne may not say it outright. But people believe that she just woke up one day and found out that the romantic tie that bound her to Joross for more than a year has snapped.

Roxanne says she’s not ready to fall in love again. So chances are, she’ll be loveless when she turns 21 on Feb. 14.

Meantime, everything is work, work, work between Joross and her. They no longer exchange text messages. In fact, they don’t communicate at all outside the set. It may be hard for Roxanne, but it’s better that way, so both of them can get used to being without the other’s presence.

The tension was all over the set on the first taping day of Love Spell, where Joross and Roxanne co-star with Melanie Marquez and Gloria Diaz, among others. It was the first time Joross and Roxanne saw each other after the break-up.

"It felt awkward," she recalls. But like true troopers, their acting was not affected. The cameras rolled, with Roxanne playing Nikka, a rich, rebellious girl and Joross, her geek seatmate, as if it were second skin to them.

If there’s anything positive about her break-up with Joross, says Roxanne, it’s the fact that it will make a better actress out of her. She can turn the negative into the positive and still have the last laugh.

So shall we welcome a new and better Roxanne for 2007? We’ll never know, until Love Spell tries to wave its magic wand on televiewers soon.