Bea recalls being an ugly duckling

There’s not a trace of her sexy body when you see her on the big screen now. Actually, we hardly recognized her, until we saw her name in the credits.

Cherry was 16 years old when a producer offered to make her a star in a bold movie. That was the start of her appearing in a string of bold productions.

Cherry was a picture of poverty when she appeared in Vicky Morales’ show on GMA 7, "Wish Ko Lang." She revealed that she’s married to a construction worker, who works as a tricycle driver on the side. They have two sons.

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Bea Alonzo, one of local films’ beautiful faces, is all set to start work on her first title role series, "Betty la Fea."

She she plays an ugly duckling in the show. How is she preparing for the role?

"Well, until I became a movie star, I never thought I was pretty. Kasi, medyo tabain ako noon at ang tangkad tangkad ko for my age. Because nga of my (British) dad, I was tall for my age.

"Kapag nakapila kaming magka-kaklase, I was always assigned sa likuran. That really made me feel insecure," she related.

She was in her teens when her aunt started fielding her in beauty contests in Pasig City. In fact, that’s how she was discovered by a talent scout, who brought her to Johnny Manahan.

"Hindi pa Star Magic ang pangalan noon ng talent and discovery arm ng ABS-CBN at Star Cinema. Talent Center pa," she recalled.

It was in the series, "Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay," that her partnership with John Lloyd Cruz started. Henceforth, they got paired in many television series, including "It Might Be You" and the most recent, "Maging Sino Ka Man."

Although we heard otherwise, Bea denied she will have John Lloyd for her partner in "Betty."

"Kaya excited ako about this project," she revealed. "First series na ako ang bida. And minus Lloydie (John Lloyd’s pet name)."

Come to think of it, what’s in store kaya for Bea minus Lloydie?

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It may not yet be splitsville, but are reports true that between Angelica Panga-niban and Derek Ramsey are cooling off?

We asked Angelica about this when we bumped into her at the press launch of her new series, "Iisa Pa Lamang," which also stars Gabby Concepcion, Diether Ocampo, Susan Roces, Cherry Pie Picache and Claudine Barretto, at the Cinema 2, The Block of SM North Edsa.

She told us she herself is surprised why such reports are circulating. They are still very much in love.

Angelica plays a bida-kontra-bida role in "Iisa Pa Lamang." She comes from a rich family. She plays around but, in the end, wants to marry Diether. And he is at her mercy.

"Diether’s family is supposed to be baon sa utang kaya gusto, lalo na ng kanyang mommy (played by Cherry Pie) for me to help them by convincing my dad (Bembol Roco) to redeem their hacienda from the bank.

"But Diether is in love with Claudine, whom my dad later marries," she related.

She and Claudine have a confrontation scene. This she considers as one of her highlights in the show. "You know naman how good an actress Claudine is. Kaya, ‘di pa man naku-kunan ang eksena, natsa-challenge na ako," she admits.

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Speaking of Derek, he has his own show to start soon. This is "Habam-buhay," where he plays Judy Ann Santos’ leading man.