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In the spotlight: Showbiz stars and their relationships with their moms and children

By LEAH C. SALTERIO Published May 07, 2021 5:08 pm Updated May 07, 2021 6:44 pm

In showbiz, relationships are always interesting AND controversial. The stars’ private lives are constant fodder for gossip, notoriously and unfairly magnified away from the cameras.

The relationship between mothers and children is no exception. When one talks about controversial relationships, can anyone top the headline-hogging kind that Kris Aquino put up and lived with when she falls in love? Not just once, not just twice.

Even when her mom, former President Corazon Aquino, was still in power, Kris had no qualms about falling in love or having relationships that stirred up the hornet’s nest.

When she was pregnant with Phllip Salvador’s child back in 1994 (she was 23), news coverage was not just confined to local media but also abroad. Phillip was 45 at that time, 22 years Kris’ senior. The couple had Joshua Phillip in June 1995. Eventually, they parted ways.

Kris Aquino

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Kris tied the knot with hardcourt cager James Yap, who was 12 years her junior. The couple had Bimby, born in April 2007 and is now 14 years old. Kris and James also parted ways in 2009. Kris subsequently left national TV when her contract with ABS-CBN expired in 2016.

Annabelle Rama and Ruffa Gutierrez

Actress and erstwhile beauty queen Ruffa Gutierrez never failed to ignite the showbiz flame with her romance, which were constantly frowned upon by her feisty mom Annabelle Rama.

The only girl and eldest child in the brood of six children of Eddie Gutierrez and Annabelle Rama, Ruffa got her mom’s blessing to exchange “I do’s” with Turkish heir Yilmaz Bektas in March 2003, whose family is in petroleum, trading, diamonds and communication businesses.

After having a wedding fit for royalty, Ruffa and Yilmaz were again married in September that same year in Istanbul. The ceremony was witnessed by her parents. Subsequently, she lived comfortably away from the limelight.

However, she later revealed that she was subjected to a life of physical abuse, torture and lies. After only four years and with two daughters, Ruffa escaped their home in Istanbul and returned to Manila with her two girls, Lorin and Venice. That ended her contentious marriage.

Annabelle is one mother who will not mince her words whenever she needs to defend her children. No wonder, there is no single soul who dares to go against her. Be it the actresses who were previously against Ruffa or the ones who were trying to hook her son, Richard, prior to getting hitched with Sarah Lahbati.

Sharon Cuneta

Megastar Sharon Cuneta was not spared of nasty talks about her relationship with  eldest daughter KC Concepcion either. Her only child with former husband Gabby Concepcion, KC stayed with Sharon even after she finished her college course at the American University in Paris, but eventually  opted to live alone.

While it is true that they had misunderstandings that landed in gossip columns, mother and daughter never went public with their rift when they were estranged.

KC and Sharon always managed to forge a peaceful relationship and rebuild whatever was damaged. “Ako lang ‘yung nag-iisang anak nilang dalawa,” KC said in a previous interview. “So meron akong complex na maging proud silang dalawa sa ‘kin.”

Lately, however, KC and Sharon have been constantly and happily in touch. The latter posts on Instagram every time her daughter makes an effort to reach out to her even virtually.

“If there was time lost before, I think the most important thing is to both embrace each other’s imperfections, forgive and be loving towards each other. That’s the best we can do,” KC said.

Heart Evangelista

Heart Evangelista comes from a well-heeled family. The youngest in the brood, she is said to be the apple of her parents’ eye—restaurant magnate Reynaldo Ongpauco and Maria Cecilia Payawal.

Heart  grew up in the US, but in her early teens, she came back to the Philippines and joined showbiz. Her first serious romance was with actor Jericho Rosales, then she had a relationship with Brazilian actor-model Daniel Matsunaga.

It was her romance with Senator Chiz Escudero that got the ire of her parents, who did not attend her wedding, much to the chagrin of their daughter. But time heals all wounds. Through the years, Heart patched things up with her parents, and the relationship between her folks and her husband.

Jackie Forster and her children with Benjie Paras and husband Michel Franken.

Actress Jackie Forster had a tumultuous past with her two sons—Andrei and Kobe Paras—with cager-turned-actor Benjie Paras. For years, the boys did not to talk to their mom.

Jackie has since remarried and has three children with her second husband, Michel Franken, an expatriate who works for a multi-national company. She lived in Singapore, the UK, Mexico, Malaysia and China for a long while and only returned to the Philippines in December 2019.

Meanwhile, Benjie, too, has his own kids with his spouse, Lyxen Diomampo, whom he married in 2006.

The first thing that Jackie did when she returned to Manila was to patch things up with her two older sons. The boys warmed up again to her and they got to regularly talk, see each other and even bond with their maternal siblings.

With plans to return to showbiz, Jackie has expressed her desire to start a project with Andrei and intimated she would welcome an opportunity to also work with Benjie.

Sarah Geronimo and husband Matteo Guidicelli.

Pop star royalty Sarah Geronimo had to deal with nasty intrigues because of the role of her parents, Daddy Delfin and Mommy Divine, in her career and  personal life. Especially her mom, who managed her finances from day one of her showbiz career.

According to reports, they never approved of any guy for their daughter, including Rayver Cruz, Gerald Anderson and Matteo Guidicelli. Sarah came to a point where she felt enough was enough.

Hence, in February 2020, she tied the knot with Matteo in a secret ceremony, without her parents’ consent. After all, she was of legal age.

Normally, people would hate the celebrity for defying her parents. In the case of Sarah’s wedding, not surprisingly, everybody was happy for her and applauded her decision.

Jake Zyrus

The charming power-belter Charice Pempengco, who hogged the international limelight when she was introduced as the protégé of David Foster, came out as Jake Zyrus years later. Once he did, there were many things that changed. Zyrus defied his mom, for one. He started a relationship with Alyssa Quijano in 2013, which lasted for four years. In 2018, Jake  confirmed his romance with Shyre Aquino and declared he was planning to marry her.

The distance between Zyrus and his mom became wider. Last November, his mom confirmed that she and Jake have not talked to each other in five years. His mom says she still loves him even if Zyrus calls her “Evil Mom.”