Camille Prats and Suzi Entrata-Abrera are ‘Mars forever’ direct line conversations

If there’s such a thing as forever, then the friendship of Camille Prats and Suzi Entrata-Abrera can aptly be described as “Mars forever” with their genuine bond that goes beyond the now-defunct GMA show “Mars” that they used to host.

Neither of the two denied they missed “Mars.” And who wouldn’t when everyone was treated like family? Camille, Suzi, and the show’s production staff were together for seven years.

“We, the people in the studio, kami-kami ang magkakasama, we became family. We were doing the show for seven long years and it added to (another) three years with ‘Mars Pa More,’” ruminated Camille of the happy times in the show. She and Suzi have known each other way before “Mars.”

What Suzi misses the most is seeing Camille regularly in the studio. “And I think every episode also because it’s different every day. May mga favorite episode at may tumatak na rin sa amin,” said she.

“When we first started doing ‘Mars,’ lagi kaming may sore throat ni Camille kasi sa sobrang excitement namin, pasigaw kami lahat all the time. There was too much excitement in each segment every day — we had workouts, we had cooking sessions, aside of course, from the interesting topics in the show,” remarked Suzi.

Speaking of workouts, Camille and Suzi are gym buddies who devote time to daily workouts to stay physically fit and active and keep updated with the goings-on of their respective lives as dutiful moms and loving wives off-cam and celebrities on-cam.

“After her morning show (‘Unang Hirit’), we will go straight to work out and then we’ll have brunch that would last us about one hour or two,” said Camille who does Barre 3 (a combination of three fitness disciplines namely, yoga, pilates, and ballet barre) with Suzi. “When we’re together, it would last us hours in talking and eating,” she laughingly added.

“Yeah, matagal. After a workout, we eat. ‘Yung workout ina-advance na namin ‘yung burning of calories,” quipped Suzi.

Camille has learned from Suzi to eat anything in moderation. “When you deprive yourself of something or what you want to eat, you’ll end up eating too much once you crave for something,” the former explained.

Suzi would resort to self-talk whenever she felt like grabbing big bites. “Back in the day, hindi ako masyadong gutumin, but now, sobra, so kinakausap ko yung sarili ko na small bowl of food lang or isang sandok lang.”

Suzi affirmed she and Camille are close friends who are present for each other in good and bad times, on- and off-screen.

“It’s pretty much the same (their closeness in and out of the show), the only difference is Camille makes it a point not to call me ‘Ate’ whenever we are in front of the cameras. Kapag nasa TV, Mars ang tawag n’ya sa ‘kin. I don’t remember a time when she called me ‘Ate’ on TV. But as soon as we’re off-cam, ‘Ate’ na ang tawag niya sa akin,” narrated Suzi.

Many believe that a woman’s circle of friends becomes smaller once she gets married and starts raising a family. Suzi considers time constraints one of the reasons behind it. There are times also when one has to find balance in everything.

“I want a smaller circle as compared to before na super mabarkada. Now, there’s this preference also like am I willing to take three or four hours of my day and spend them with this group of people or just stay home? Ang saya kasi na nasa bahay lang with your family. Mas bet ko tumambay sa bahay,” said the TV host.

Since she became a mom, Camille saw the advantage of a low-maintenance type of friendship “regardless if you don’t see each other often, it’s fine. Or, it depends on what season of life you’re in like in my case, I have young children and I am homeschooling them. Apart from that, I’m also working on the side. That’s why, I truly need to find time with friends and if you have a lot of friends, you have to maintain a big circle and meet them every so often. So, I appreciate friends who are low maintenance, na buo pa rin kahit hindi kayo madalas magkita.”

Married women may perhaps still experience temptation from others outside of their marriage yet Suzi and Camille do not find it hard to escape it. Having a good-looking husband, the former amusingly said, is the key while the latter stressed being cognizant whenever in the same room with the opposite sex.

I asked Suzi and Camille if they agreed on the proposed legalization of divorce in the Philippines, and each gave a different view.

Suzi underscored that if the country does not legalize divorce, all forms of marital abuse must then be criminalized.

“Criminalize abuse. If that is the reason why you, guys, are together, then you can’t free yourself from it (marital relationship) because there’s no divorce,” said Suzi who tied the knot with Paolo in 2001.

“All forms, kasi usually physical lang pero hindi, pati mental, emotional (abuse),” she furthered.

Camille, in turn, does not approve divorce. She believes the children will suffer much from it. “Kapag laging ganun ‘yung pag-iisip natin sa mag-asawa na that’s always an option, then whoever we find in life, ‘di naman perpekto ‘yung tao na ‘yun. It (divorce) always has to be mutual. Iba rin naman kapag babae lang ang nakikipaglaban pero ayaw naman ng asawa mo. That’s an entirely different story.”

Camille has been married to VJ Yambao since 2017. She gave birth to their daughter the same year and their son, Nolan, two years later. The actress has another son, Nathaniel, with her late husband, Anthony Linsangan. VJ has another son named Ice from a previous relationship. Photos of the couple on their respective Instagram accounts reflect the joy of having a blended family.

Suzi and Paolo, on the other hand, have three lovely daughters namely, Leona, Jade, and Antonella.