Several days before the grapevine went abuzz that Ellen Adarna and boyfriend John Lloyd Cruz have called it quits after only more than two years of living together, a certain “Maria Elena Adarna” had been posting cryptic messages on Facebook just like what Bea Alonzo did against people that she didn’t name (but were thought to be her boyfriend Gerald Anderson and Julia Barretto). Like “ghosting” (a millennial-coined verb that refers to a person simply vanishing into thin air without any by-your-leave and leaving a partner/friend/whatever clueless), posting “cryptic” messages on social media has become the norm of the day.
A strong woman doesn’t beg. She leaves the moment she feels unwanted.…Strong women would rather be alone with dignity than in a relationship that requires them to sacrifice their own self-respect.
Could the Ellen Adarna have really floated those two “meaningful” messages?
The Bea-Gerald-Julia has exhausted its excitement, the three protagonists having aired their sides, but Ellen and JLC have kept mum about the rumors swirling around them. True to form, actually. They have never confirmed their relationship, not even after Ellen gave birth to their son Elias Modesto and not now when they should be, well, clearing the air.
“Once either of them talks,” noted a keen showbiz observer, “the ‘bomb’ that Ellen and John Lloyd would explode would have a ‘nuclear’ impact far, far bigger than that of Bea-Gerald-Julia. Just wait and see.”
JLC has lately been spotted at a mall — “Looking as if trying to be ‘incognito’ with his long hair and unshaven face,” according to an eyewitness — seemingly choosing what movie to watch. He was reported to have spent a vacation alone in Vietnam at the same time that Ellen and an actress-friend were in Bangkok. Living separate lives?
Since Ellen and JLC seem to bask in mystery, all that showbiz observers can rely on are, well, “careless whispers,” such as…
• Before Ellen left for Thailand, she filed a TPO (Temporary Protection Order) against JLC so he cannot, should not, go near his “ex-GF” and their son;
• The “un-couple” are not on speaking terms. As a line from a song goes, silence is golden;
• Ellen is fed up with JLC’s “weirdness;” and
• JLC is okay and “chill” when he gets a little help from his friends.
Anyway, until Ellen and JLC decide to squeak…oops!...speak up, the guessing game will go on and on and on, and it will never be over.
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TNT Boys together forever
TNT (Tawag Ng Tanghalan) Boys (from left) Kiefer Sanchez, Francis Concepcion and Mackie Empuerto wow The STAR family when they performed at the paper’s 33rd anniversary lunch last July 30 (two days after the actual date). The next day, the trio left for San Francisco where they joined other Kapamilya stars in the staging of ASAP Natin ’To. — TNT photos by Ver Paulino
Unlike in the relationship of Ellen Adarna and John Lloyd Cruz, in the case of the TNT Boys (Francis Concepcion, 13; Kiefer Sanchez 14; and Mackie Empuerto, 14), there is forever. They come from different regions (Francis from Cavite, Kiefer from Davao and Mackie from Zamboanga), and in the more than two years that they’ve been performing here and abroad, the boys have become like siblings.
When they performed two songs during the STAR’s 33rd-anniversary lunch last July 30 (actual date is July 28), the boys happily reported that not one of them was going solo, although Mackie did appear in the indie film Bakwit Boys before the TNT Boys was born, with Vice Ganda being instrumental in forming the trio when they appeared as guests on his show Gandang Gabi Vice (GGV). The boys competed individually in the Tawag Ng Tanghalan segment of It’s Showtime where Kiefer placed second, Mackie third and Francis fifth.
Said the boys who are home-schooled, “Now we can help our families. We can buy the things that we want, ‘yung mga hindi namin mabili noon, at napaayos namin ang aming mga bahay.”
The day after the STAR event, the boys flew to San Francisco where they joined fellow Kapamilya stars in the staging of ASAP Natin ‘To. They have performed abroad several times: in LA as guest in Steve Harvey’s show Little Big Shots and then as contestants in The World’s Best, and also on The Late Late Show with James Corden where they met Ariana Grande (their favorite singer); Australia; Dubai; Singapore; and Edmonton, Canada.
All this, and more, can be seen in the docu TNT Boys: Journey to the World Stage which started streaming on iWant last Aug. 7. Watch it.
Kiefer and his ‘selfie’ photo with Ariana Grande as wallpaper of his cellphone
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(E-mail reactions at rickylophilstar@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)