NEWSFLASH

PAULO B. TURNED DOWN MOVIE W/ ROBIN..& RANDY'S WIFE VS. GF

Quezon City, May 22, 2000 - GMA-7 host and shampoo endorser Paolo Bediones is raring to be in the movies but isn’t willing to jump into just any kind of role. In fact, he would have been in the forthcoming Robin Padilla-Regine Velasquez movie with Viva Films had he been willing to accept a role that’s just a little longer than a walk-on part.

Paolo was asked to portray one of Regine’s suitorswho will have one and only scene in the whole movie.

He wisely turned it down, most likely reasoning out that it is so unsubstantial a role to create an impact on moviegoers.

We’re sure many of Paolo’s fans are also eager to see their idol on the big screen. And we’re quite sure, too, that with Paolo’s popularity through that network-crossing commercial, that offer to portray Regine’s suitor wouldn’t be the last one. He’ll surely be offered substantial roles soon.

Meanwhile, what Robin is promoting these days is his about-to-be-shown film with Vina Morales from Millenium Cinema: ‘Eto Na Naman Ako'. And at the recent press conference for the film, Robin was asked if it’s true that he had just divorced Joyce Jimenez.

His answer was: "Ayokong mag-confirm or mag-deny. No comment po ako diyan."

The reporters had varied reactions to Robin’s answer. Some took it to be a confirmation even as Robin had never even admitted that he married Joyce in some Muslim rites (thus allowing him to divorce her easily by simply telling her, “I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you”).

Anyway, we believe that Robin has not really married Joyce although the rumors that she did have been floating around for quite sometime. For one thing, Joyce surely would not enjoy sharing Robin with wife Liezl Sicangco. And for another, those who have been spreading out that rumor have never presented any evidence that such a marriage ever occurred.

Still on Robin, the actor is due to fly next month to Australia where a pregnant Liezl is slated to give birth to their fourth child (they already have three daughters, all of whom are with Liezl in Australia).

ANOTHER SHOWBIZ ITEM:

Vanessa del Bianco is not the first girl to be linked to John Estrada since he married Janice de Belen.

About four or five years ago, a colegiala by the name of Camille Roa was linked to him. John seemed to have had a case of love-at-first sight over Camille. The grapevine had it that John spotted her in a mall and lost no time to introduce himself to her. Later on, John was reported hanging out, waiting for Camille, at the gate of the exclusive girls’ school where she was then studying.

However, nothing came out of John’s panliligaw to Camille as she was well aware that John was already very much married to Janice. Later on, Camille tried showbiz as a singer, but success eluded her. She also tried her luck in a beauty contest but she again failed.

John’s co-host, Randy Santiago, is really as babaero as John. Right at ABS-CBN compound, there’s a young trainee being linked to him. And the only reason other showbiz scribes are not cackling about it is that, well, she is just some girl in the studio, unlike John’s alleged ka-affair who happens to be a well-known showbiz personality, tooVanessa, of course.

We also hear that Randy’s beautiful wife Malou Coronel, whose family, if we are not mistaken runs the Cinderella department stores, got wind of her husband’s alleged affair and was peeved when she saw the girl with her own eyes at Ratsky, the bar in Malate that Randy owns. Apparently, Randy had invited the girl over, not knowing that one of his employees is close to his wife and promptly called her secretly to come over.

Malou did turn up. Educated that she is, Malou did not make a scene but still confronted the girl. No sparks flew, no glass was broken. It was just one civil confrontation.

But, then, it worked well. We hear that the girl-trainee soon after that confrontation began to distance herself from Randy.