IN my years in the business, I hardly get starstruck. I’ve interviewed stars and starlets left and right, some became my friends, some I had a falling out with, but I am usually indifferent when it comes to celebrities. I know we’re all the same people. We all laugh, love, dream, cry and fart. Oftentimes, in my delusional mind, I even think I am better than some of them. While many would scramble to take a picture or get an autograph from celebrities, my mind would often wander off and think of other things. Except when it comes to Pia Wurtzbach.
My obsession with Pia started about five years ago. December 17, 2015, to be exact. You see, it was the ABS-CBN Corporate Christmas party and it was a time for merriment and revelry. The whole company was letting their hair down eating and drinking. Well, except poor ol’ me. It was close to midnight and I was still fixing a lot of things, among others a TVC featuring the Binibining Pilipinas titleholders of that year which included Pia. I was close to crying, closer to getting angry at the world, the universe rather, and scream to the highest of the heavens, “Hoy, Pia! Dapat manalo ka ng Miss Universe at makapagpa-picture ako sa ’yo, kung hindi sasabunutan kita!”
Unless you live under a rock, you know what happened three days later. Pia, in her resplendent blue gown, was announced as first runner-up to Colombia. I pulled what’s left of my hair and cried and screamed all kinds of expletives. A few moments later, pageant host Steve Harvey came back and admitted that he announced the wrong winner. I, along with millions of Filipinos everywhere, rejoiced as the rightful winner was crowned.
For her first homecoming, I connived with It’s Showtime host Mariel Rodriguez to have a picture. She, too, was obsessed with Pia and I even showed her my peg of what my picture with Pia would be like. It would be like she was hugging me, as if I was the sole reason she won Miss Universe. I waited and waited, but there was a ton of interviews she had to do and my boss texted me that our meeting was about to start. With a defeated heart, I went back to the office and an hour later, Mariel messaged me with a picture—of her hugging Pia just like in my peg!
She then flew back to New York to fulfill her duties as Miss Universe and then went back to the country to restart a career in showbiz. There were a lot of opportunities for me to take that picture with her: a ton of presscons and shoots where we were almost breathing the same air; endorsement activities she got busy with where I was even the project head, but when it came to a shoot or a guesting with her, I would defer to my teammates because of work, and so they took their picture with her. To think her handler, the wisecracking but gold-hearted Rikka Dylim, is one of my closest friends.
Then last week, the stars finally aligned. First, I was invited to a presscon for ABS-CBN Books where it was announced Pia would soon author a fictional book. Armed with my trusty cell phone (it has a cracked screen actually, and sometimes I cannot type the letters “A” and “Z” and it would conk out every two hours), I charged to the event and finally had that picture with her. Oh, she received a mouthful from me! I told her about that story of me almost crying during the ABS-CBN Christmas party, those missed opportunities and how those stories I would read about her in different interviews of her working hard to get that crown which, in turn, inspired me to work even harder so that one day I would also be Miss Universe in my own pathetic life. That day, in fact, I was in the verge of tears, literally. I blurted that out to her and the ever nice Pia hugged me and even directed my pictures with her. “Dun tayo sa maganda ang ilaw!” she said.
Pia gamely posed and talked to me as if we were long lost friends.
God must have realized how such a good gay I am that He gave me another opportunity to have a picture with her…and this time with the first Filipina Miss Universe, Gloria Diaz no less. It was the opening of the LuxeHome BGC showroom.
LuxeHome is the official distributor of premier European brands such as Derucci (an Italian brand known for its luxury mattresses and bedroom fixtures), Domicii (a German heritage lifestyle product), Pillowise (custom pillows from the Netherlands), Downia (premium leather and down, fitted pillows from Australia) and Relax Studio (a company that specializes in ergonomic chairs). It is located at MC Home Depot and you can even go to www.derucci.com.ph or www.pillowise.ph to know more about their products.
The opening was a glitzy affair hosted by Tim Yap where the different products were showcased. It was in that event where I was able to chat again with Pia, and, while I kept it cool, I was really a nervous wreck. Hello??!!?! This is Pia Wurtzbach. My queen! My inspiration! My goddess! My everything!
At that point in the event, I wanted to cry again. And driving home from the event on my way to another one, I did and just let it all out. And it felt good. In fact, I felt confidently beautiful about myself and my life.