Gladys: Janno has nothing to do with it

No, rumored (ex?-)boyfriend Janno Gibbs has nothing to do with her resignation from Eat, Bulaga!

"It’s really for health reasons," Gladys Guevarra confessed in an exclusive Funfare interview. "Janno, or anybody else, has nothing to do with it."

There are speculations that Gladys was so broken-hearted when Janno started paying extra attention to "Lian" (the sweet-sixteen member of the EB Babes) that she decided to quit the show.

"Why should I be hurt when Janno has never been my boyfriend?" continued Gladys. "We’re just close, that’s all," adding in jest (addressing Janno), "Hoy, sige na nga ligawan mo na ako; totohanin na natin!"

The "anybody else" Gladys referred to is her ex-doctor-boyfriend with whom Gladys was reported to have reconciled and who allegedly asked her to quit showbiz so that they could marry and she could devote full time to the family they wanted to raise.

"No, we didn’t reconcile," said Gladys. "Besides, nobody can tell me what to do, especially not to quit showbiz. If ever, the decision will come from me and me alone."

She also denied having a "misunderstanding" with Malou Choa-Fagar, executive producer of Eat, Bulaga!

"The main reason for my resignation is, as I’ve been saying, poor health," insisted Gladys. "I suffer from persistent backache due to scoliosis and it was getting harder and harder for me to get up in the morning for the daily Bulaga! routine. Besides, I don’t have a driver; neither do I have a hairdresser-makeup artist. I do everything myself. I’ve been telling my manager, Jun Nardo, about my health problems from way back, even before the rumor about me and Janno came out in the press."

Admitting that quitting Eat, Bulaga! would mean a big cut in her income, Gladys said that health, more than money, is her main concern.

"I am happier now," she said. "I’m more relaxed now."

First week of February, her new soap starrer Magic Kamison will start airing on GMA 7, good for one season.

After Magic Kamison, what?

"I plan to take up a course in culinary arts," said Gladys who owns a lugawan (on Timog Ave., Quezon City).

Told jokingly that Janno planned to put up a tokwahan near her lugawan, Gladys said, also in jest, "Good. Then we can be business partners. And then, finally, maybe he would really get right down to seriously courting me."

Joanne, husband wed twice over

Congratulations to Joanne Lorenzana and her husband, Brant Blower, who got married in Christian rites yesterday afternoon at Patio Victoria (Sofia’s Garden) in Intramuros, Manila, which is owned and managed by Cristina "Kring-Kring" Gonzalez-Romualdez.

The couple got married in civil rites in April 2005, capping a beautiful romance bound by music that started in 2002.

Based in San Francisco, California, Joanne and Brant came home purposely for the Christian wedding held to celebrate their union with Joanne’s family, friends and colleagues (among the principal sponsors at yesterday’s affair were Jose Mari Chan and Orly Ilacad). Present at the couple’s civil wedding were members of Brant’s family.

Joanne and Brant met in 2002 while Joanne was on a long vacation in San Francisco – on March 28, 2002 exactly, at the Virgin Records Cafe in San Francisco where Joanne was tapping an American musician to back her up in her show at the Clarion Hotel (on April 20 that same year).

The American musician was none other than Brant. He and Joanne hit it off on the personal level at once. Brant didn’t join Joanne’s show but he and Joanne started nourishing a beautiful friendship.

After two months of dating, they collaborated on their first composition entitled Beyond Ago. It must have been a joy for the couple to be making music together, filled with moments and experiences marked by love and life itself.

After surviving a three-year long-distance relationship, they tied the knot at the San Francisco City Hall in April 2005, with only Brant’s siblings present.

Said Joanne of her in-laws: "They are so loving and accepting. They are such a beautiful family inside-out. I’m blessed to be a part of them and to be married to a wonderful guy like Brant."

The couple will go back shortly to San Francisco where they have settled down.

Martin’s Vegas show suffers untold delays

Just when everybody thought that Martin Nievera is now deep into his series of shows at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, guess what news Funfare has just received from Martin himself – yes, his show has suffered untold delays. Sob and sigh.

Here’s Martin’s full text message to Funfare:

It has been like a roller-coaster ride over here. Delay after delay, with everyone pointing fingers at one another as to who is to blame. Long-time artists here told me, "That’s Vegas, baby!"

Meanwhile, I have been waiting over a year picking up tune-up shows where I can, and at the same time worrying over my Aladdin shows.

Yes, the show has been reset, to kick off on Feb. 1. I’m afraid I’ve become like the boy who cried "Wolf!" for saying the show dates are these and these, but I hope that people will still believe me. Tickets are already on sale on lasvegas.com and all other ticket-selling websites. The Feb. 1st kick-off is final, I hope.

You know, all I need is a stage and a song. And with God’s grace, history will unfold. I’ve already let a year go by. Pray for me that all this will be worth it in the end. This sacrifice is for the dreamer in me and for all Filipinos, of course!

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