Jewel Mische and Bubbles Paraiso kiss and make up!
Elyas Isabelo Salanga and Karen Pagsolingan
Friday, September 18, 2009
11:17 PM
Things seemed to come to a standstill for a brief moment when Bubbles Paraiso stood up and passed by the table where Jewel Mische was seated.
Were they going to snub each other?
But Bubbles bent down to give the Starstruck 4 Ultimate Sweetheart a kiss on the cheek, and a surprised Jewel returned the courtesy of the kiss. About 30 minutes later, they posed with GMA Films president Annette Gozon-Abrogar.
Those were some of the sidelights of the meet-and-greet session that took place yesterday, September 17, among the editors of Summit Publishing and the executives and some talents of GMA Artists Center.
BACK STORY. It will be recalled that the two figured in a dispute during GMA-7's inauguration of its new studios last October 17, 2008. Bubbles, according to Jewel, hit her "not once, but several times, in different locations during that event" (click here for the whole report.)
This, of course, was denied by Bubbles, claiming that she never elbowed Jewel, or stepped on Jewel's gown, or did anything untoward to Jewel (click here for whole report).
This issue made headlines in PEP, but it inevitably died down as the days progressed with the two Kapuso stars choosing to keep mum on the issue.
To make this a little clearer, it should be noted that at the time of the incident, the circumstances were this: Jewel Mische was said to be "stalking" Richard Gutierrez, who happens to be in the same talent-management camp as Bubbles Paraiso, as both Richard and Bubbles are under talent manager Annabelle Rama. Bubbles was thus presumed to be doing mischief on Jewel to send the message that the latter was not welcome to the fold. Bubbles denied the incident. Jewel went on record to say it was true, on television no less.
Showbiz was rife with talk that very likely Bubbles got the nerve to unnerve Jewel because, at the time, the Rama family clearly did not approve of Jewel for Richard. In particular, Annabelle, Richard's mother, was said to have her sights on the daughter of Sharon Cuneta, KC Concepcion, for Richard. Richard at the time was rumored to be courting KC, with whom he was appearing in big projects. KC and Jewel have facial similarities.
The other side to this story is that it was Richard who was interested in Jewel, or eventually became interested in her, or it had become a mutual attraction, because the two are now said to be—in one of the most-guarded secrets of showbiz—an item.
As proof, the word is that the first person Richard called after his unfortunate May 22 car accident was Jewel, and that it was also Jewel whom he wanted by his side to nurse him back to health at the time. Another buzz in the Kapuso network is that Jewel, who had a big chance to rise in 2007 as StarStruck Ultimate Sweetheart, has had a series of false starts in her career because Richard raises many restrictions on what she can or cannot do onscreen.
It is also said that, at this stage, the Ramas, if they still have objections to Jewel, have kept largely silent, in deference to Richard, the major star in the family.
THE FIRST KISS AND MAKE UP. But it was actually last June 19, during the 59th anniversary celebration of GMA-7 at the Araneta Coliseum, that the reconciliation between Bubbles and Jewel took place.
Without photographers or reporters present in the red-carpet area, Bubbles took the opportunity to bury the hatchet. She quietly approached Jewel and said sorry.
The latter, according to a few witnesses, accepted the apology.
Since then, there have been no incidents. And the only time they talked about it again was when PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) asked, through GMA Artists Center publicity and events director Shirley Pizarro, for the ladies' respective reactions to their hard-to-miss beso at the training room of the Summit Media office yesterday.
The GMA Artists Center is the talent-management arm of the Kapuso network. Headed by Ida Henares, as vice-president, and Arsi Baltazar, as artist-management group head, the GMA Artist Center handles more than a hundred artists, including adult and child stars, hosts, chefs, and athletes.
Summit Media publishes FHM, Preview, Real Living, Cosmopolitan, Yummy, Town and Country, Good Housekeeping, Smart Parenting, Entrepreneur, Women's Health, Men's Health, Total Girl, K-Zone, Candy, Top Gear, OK! and YES! magazines, and runs more than 12 websites.
The two groups came together to have the stars and the editors meet each other.
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