Janine keeps no secrets

MANILA, Philippines -The idea of keeping the romance a secret is common to many a showbiz couple who usually divulge their relationship when they are headed for splitsville or have totally separated. This is not the case for Elmo Magalona and Janine Gutierrez whose love affair is now out in the open. It was Elmo who revealed it.

Janine, of course, has the sweetest smile plastered on her face as she acknowledged Elmo’s “full of love” gesture.

“We’ve been together for a few months already,” Janine told The STAR and other members of the entertainment press after the cast of GMA 7’s More Than Words was formally presented at a presscon recently.

According to her, even she was surprised to learn that Elmo had gone public about their relationship but nevertheless felt flattered by the revelation “because he’s okay to tell people and for him to be able to do that, only means that he is happy with me. Actually, sobrang positive ang naramdaman ko after his admission since there is no more need for me to think, during interviews, how much can I say (about us).”

Their love bloomed only after their onscreen romantic team-up in Villa Quintana (VQ). In fact, the two have already known each other since Party Pilipinas days. “We just said hi and hello to each other that time. We only really got to talk in VQ during tapings and that was the time I got to know him well, then we started going out already. But it was only after VQ when we became on.”

Asked if she would rather keep their romance off the radar, Janine said that never crossed her mind. “It’s super new pa kasi and when everyone gets to know about it then it becomes the center of the topic like now. We just wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while, na kami lang muna.”

Still, Janine deemed that their honest admission has a positive effect on their respective careers.

“Lucky for me and Elmo because we also work as a love team so it’s not a problem and I don’t think it will be a problem naman kasi we get to help each other out in our work at pareho kami ng mga pinagdadaanan kaya mas madali kami nag-kakaintindihan.”

Janine, too, never seemed to run out of superlatives about Elmo. “He’s very caring and he’s spontaneous and he listens to everything that I like then he always surprises me with little things. I appreciate so much that he listens to me and I just really like talking to him.”

Is she the jealous type?

“Sakto lang. Besides, he doesn’t give me any reason to be jealous.”

Her parents, Ramon Christopher Gutierrez and Lotlot de Leon, have approved of the relationship. Janine shared she formally introduced Elmo to them and “they like him and they have spent time together in some occasions.” Even her grandma Pilita Corrales is in favor of Elmo.

Same with Elmo’s mom, Pia, who according to Janine is so supportive of her every endeavor. “Like when I hosted the Miss World (Philippines), she sent me a text message. And I am also thankful that Elmo’s family is very nice towards me; very sweet sila sa ‘kin.”

No wonder, Janine is inspired to portray her role in More Than Words where she is once again paired up with Elmo.

In the story, Janine is Ikay, a girl who is being teased in school as a weirdo due to her unusual looks and constant daydreaming. She finds solace in writing fiction online, creating the character of Katy Perez who possesses all the qualities she dreams for herself. Until one day, she met a young man (Hiro) who incidentally fits her description of the guy character in her story.

“More Than Words has a touch of comedy and direk Andoy (Ranay) always tells us to enjoy every moment to reflect our true emotions onscreen; na dapat light lang at masaya.”

The Kapuso star described Ikay as her complete opposite. Aside, of course, from the physical appearance, “Ikay is super kulit while I am the timid type so I really have to exert an effort to show energy. Actually, I admire Ikay because even if she is not that pretty, she exudes confidence and that’s what I like Ikay to rub on me.”