MANILA, Philippines - Way before the cameras started rolling and lapel mics started recording, the masses’ fascination for the Gutierrez family has always been there, with countless TV hits under their belt, movies top billing them as the stars and countless headlines screaming their names from as far back as I can remember. Somehow, their lives have really been one big reality show — the spotlight, no matter how harsh or hollow, has been part of their heritage.
For this family at least, it’s like the cameras never stop rolling. To say that they’ve had very public lives is a big understatement, and so for this writer, a close family friend of the Gutierrezes, the reality show premiering tomorrow on E! Asia is long overdue. The only difference is, all eyes will be on them — not just the Philippines, but all of Asia.
What’s there to see aside from the obvious glimpses from the trailers that we’ve been seeing on the regional network? Let me tell you that with the Gutierrezes, there’s actually more than meets the eye. They portray the patriarch, Tito Eddie Gutierrez as “The Legend,†Tita Annabelle Rama the momma as “The Boss,†twins Mond and Chard Gutierrez as the twins from opposite sides of the spectrum and only daughter Ruffa as the princess of the family. But again, as I said earlier, there’s much, much more than that.
In the first episode alone, Ruffa tells all about her failed marriage, talks about singlehandedly raising her two beautiful kids Lorin and Venice, therefore debunking the princess title she’s always had. She is a working woman, and at least in the first episode, she worked it. Will she reveal more in the coming episodes or will she stay safe —
The boss and the legend
The no-holds-barred Annabelle Rama is the expected scene stealer in the family — the most unguarded and candidly real Rama delivers punch lines left and right without her even knowing it. Mond and Chard leave something hanging by the pilot’s end, something that will leave you wanting for more — the answers to some of showbiz’s most-often-asked questions. But hey, no spoilers here.
If anything, this show is more like a family bonding time for the Gutierrez family. It is almost impossible to get them all together under one roof, as all of them have frenetic schedules when they’re in town, so for this particular show, they went all over Asia aboard a cruise ship. Expect fireworks when they’re all together. The last time they were all together was when they all went to Istanbul, Turkey. And we all know that chapter is part of the distant past.
I haven’t seen the succeeding episodes, but I do hope that certain things get revealed. That underneath the icing on the family cake, this family is made of sturdy stuff — that Ruffa is a pillar of strength, Mond is deceptively witty and funny, Chard is intrinsically intense and a loving son and that Eddie is really “The Boss†and Annabelle is “The Legend.†Yes, Annabelle Rama, for those who really know her, is a marshmallow, a mother who just so happens will wage war with anyone who (can possibly) harm her children. But we already know that.
The things we don’t know will get revealed when we watch the show. It takes “gutz,†you know.
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(More family bonding+secrets revealed @officialtimyap on both Twitter and Instagram.)
Photos by CHOLO DELA VEGA
Produced by DAVID MILAN