The show will premiere on Saturday, April 6, at 9PM and takes over the reality show timeslot that once belonged to “Artista Academy”, “The Amazing Race Philippines” and, most recently, “Kanta Pilipinas”.
To be hosted by Phoemela Baranda, “Boracay Bodies” also features Wendy Valdez, Victor Silayan, Helga Krapf, Joross Gamboa, Luke Jickain, Brent Javier and the equally controversial Krista Miller as Ethel’s fellow competitors.
Not surprisingly, Ethel fielded the most number of questions from the media during the press conference on Tuesday night.
Dubbed in the show as “The Diva”, Ethel said she’s more than happy to be cast in “Boracay Bodies” where she will get a chance to be more herself and show more of her competitive spirit.
The questions, however, immediately shifted to her controversial departure from “Wowowillie” as Ethel was once again asked if she was willing to reconcile with Willie Revillame and come back to the noontime show.
“Kahit anong mangyari, mahal na mahal ko ‘yun,” she said in reference to Willie. “Sobra lang sigurong lalim ng friendship namin kaya siguro naging kampante kami sa isa’t isa. Pero wala na, hindi na. Malabo na kaming magkabati nun.”
Ethel confessed that she really wanted to quit pronto when Willie jokingly blamed her on the air for the two power failures that marred the premiere broadcast of “Wowowillie” last January 26.
“Sabi niya, ‘Malas ka talaga’. Nasaktan ako dun. Gusto ko siyang sapakin nun. Alam naman niya na madali akong mapikon at totoo, madalas akong na-o-offend sa mga biro niya,” she admitted. “Halos everyday, umiiyak ako.”
Ethel said she also got hurt when Willie said that he helped get her career back on track considering that it was she who also helped Willie when he was down. “Sabi niya, tinulungan niya akong makabalik. Look who’s talking. Para namang hindi ko din siya natulungan noon,” she said.
Be that as it may, Ethel said she was able to take all of that and reported to the show like a good soldier. “Sa lahat ng mga naging shows ko, sa kanya lang ako hindi na-late. Never na nangyari ‘yun nung nandun ako sa show niya,” she noted.
The last straw, however, came during that fateful day of February 28 when Willie publicly berated both Ethel and Ate Gay shortly after the two lost in a costume contest won by choreographer Anna Feliciano.
“Nagalit sila dahil hindi sila nanalo sa costume… Ang lalaki na ng ulo n’yo!.. If you want to resign right now, go! Hindi ko kayo pipigilan,” Willie said.
According to Ethel, that’s not what really happened. Contrary to what was earlier reported, she did not storm into Willie’s dressing room and raised her voice to vehemently complain about the contest.
“Hindi ko siya sinugod sa dressing room niya. Siya ‘yung nagpunta sa dressing room namin, wala pa nga siyang shirt nung pumasok siya. Ang sinabi ko lang sa kanya tungkol sa contest na ‘yun, eh kausapin niya si Ate Gay at umiiyak, nagtatampo sa result,” she recalled.
Ethel did complain to Willie about something else: a joke he earlier made about the skimpy costume she wore for the contest in which he was trying to bait her into saying something against Anne Curtis, one of the hosts of rival noontime show, “Showtime”.
“Sabi nya, ‘gusto mong gayahin si Anne Curtis, gusto mo ring magpakita ng singit’ so nasabi ko, ‘We’re talking about talent, not singit’. Tapos nun, pinutakte na ko sa text at Twitter ng mga fans ni Anne, nagagalit na sa kin,” she revealed.
“Nung sinabi ko sa kanya ‘yun, sabi niya sa ‘kin, ‘Sige wag kang mag-alala, akong bahala, ipagtatanggol kita’. Akala ko, totoong kaibigan ko siya.”
To her surprise, Willie said something else on the air going as far as questioning their sense of gratitude and reminding them who’s the boss: “Mag-isip kayo dahil ako ang nagpapasuweldo sa inyo!” he blurted out.
“Nung sinabi niya yung salitang ‘kayo’, pati ako nadamay na so nasaktan ako dun. Nakita at alam ni Ate Gay at ng mga PA (production assistants) ang totoong nangyari dun,” Ethel further pointed out.
The bottom line, according to the outspoken comedienne, is this: “Babae ako, lalaki siya,” suggesting that he should have treated her with more respect than what she had to endure during the short time she was on “Wowowillie”.
Even though the jokes were made in the spirit of fun, Ethel apparently was not very pleased that it often came at her expense.
As for Ate Gay telling a different story in his own interviews and eventually coming back to the show, Ethel said she understood where the gay comedian is coming from.
“Sabi ni Ate Gay, ‘Ikaw naman kahit hindi magtrabaho okay lang, ako kailangan ko ito’. Naintindihan ko yun, kung may Allan K ang ‘Eat Bulaga’ at may Vice Ganda naman sa ‘Showtime’, gusto din naman niyang magkaroon ng ganoong following, so siya naman sa show ni Willie,” she said.
Since she left the show, Ethel admitted that she continues to receive feelers from Willie’s camp about reconciling their differences and even possibly returning to the show.
“Mga mga text from people na malalapit sa kanya. Hindi naman ite-text ‘yun kung walang approval niya so I think alam kong alam niya ‘yun,” she surmised.
Still, she had already made up her mind about not returning and, at least for now, not reconciling with Willie. But after all is said and done, Ethel said she continues to consider Willie a dear friend.
“Kaya ko lang naman nasasabi ang mga bagay na ito ngayon at sa mga tweets ko kasi nga, may pinaghuhugutan. Masyadong malalim ang friendship namin. Siguro, masyado lang siyang na-spoiled kaya naging ganun siya,” she concluded.
source: interaksyon.com
