Host-actress Carmina Villaroel is in a daze.She admits that her hectic work schedule--juggling the daily talk show "Sis" and nightly soap "Mga Mata ni Angelita" -- has left her spaced out.
"[Once] I got home from 'Angelita' at 5 a.m. and woke up at 7 a.m.," she relates. "Good thing, [co-hosts] Ate Janice and Gelli [de Belen] are there to cover for me when I feel like a zombie."
She's been so preoccupied that she didn't even know that ex-husband Rustom Padilla had tied for Best Actor with Mark Gil at the Gawad Urian last week.
"A guest on 'Sis' told me about it. I had been out of the loop," she explains. "I'd much rather tend to my kids than watch TV when I'm home kasi."
Lest it be misconstrued, she swiftly stresses that she's proud of Rustom's achievement.
"I'm, glad for him. I've gotten over what happened [between us]. Since I'm happy with my life, I also want him to be happy with his. A Gawad Urian is such a big blessing."
Rustom, who has maintained cordial relations with his ex-wife, echoes the same sentiments: "It's clear that she's happy and that she wishes me happiness. Her children are so beautiful!"
Hands-on mom
Her 6-year-old twins by partner Zoren Legaspi are the main reasons that she's working so hard, Carmina points out.
No matter how busy, she's still a hands-on mom. "I bring Mavy and Cassy to school. Even if I lacked sleep the night before, I wake up early and have breakfast with them."
Constant communication is a must for her. "Even if I'm in a faraway location, I call them."
On the set of the series "Angelita," which wraps up its run this week, she is often thinking of the kids.
"I see my daughter Cassy in [young co-star] Kristal [Reyes]," Carmina says. "They're both sweet and affectionate."
Since she herself joined the biz at the tender age of 12, she feels for child stars like Kristal. "I often ask about her studies. I advise her to never give up schooling. I can be inquisitive. It's the TV host in me," she admits.
She's just as protective of her twins who've started doing TV ads, too. "Zoren and I are present on the set to make sure that the working conditions are okay. We don't want our kids to feel it's work. It's as if they're playing lang."
She affirms that she has a lot of things to be thankful for.
Last month, she received an unexpected birthday gift--a phone call from longtime crush Hollywood actor Josh Hartnett who shot a movie in the South.
"I loved him in '40 Days and 40 Nights,' 'Hollywood Homicide' and 'Pearl Harbor,'" she says.
At the time of the call, she was preparing gifts for indigent kids, with whom she celebrated her birthday.
"A friend [who worked in the US production] called and passed the phone to Josh," she recounts. "I didn't want to sound like a fan, so I tried to keep cool. But he was so nice and sincere that I couldn't help myself. At the end of the call, I let out a shriek. I heard him laughing."
As bonus: "My friend told me that all throughout our conversation, Josh was smiling."
Source: PDI by Bayani San Diego Jr.
