When Karen Bordador agreed to have her life story portrayed on TV, her only goal was to inspire. She didn’t think about heaping millions of tweets and views, but nonetheless she’s happy with the warm reception for the Part 1 of her life story shown last Saturday, March 11, in Maalaala Mo Kaya.

“Honestly, hindi ko talaga inisip kung anong kalalabasan. Basta inisip ko na lang, sana may masiyahan, may mga ma-inspire at mabuhayan lalo na sa mga taong medyo hindi maganda ‘yung nangyayari sa kanila ngayon. Gusto kong maramdaman nila na things are going to be okay,” she said in this episode of Kapamilya Chat.

She continued, “Pero I was so surprised. I really felt the love. It’s amazing. MMK really moves hearts and I’m so proud to be part of it.”

Karen organized a viewing party, which was an idea of PBB ex-housemate Jordan Andrews who’s also part of the episode, “I’m not the type of person na gumagawa ng parties but this is a special, momentous thing.” It was attended by Kuya’s housemates from different seasons, “I just feel like connecting to people now that I’m back in the outside world. Nagdatingan silang lahat and it was just so fun to watch it together.”

She was amazed how Kaila Estrada breathed life to her story – from the preparation that speaks so well of her commitment to the role to the actual performance. “When I met her, wow, she’s really good. She got the way I speak, my mannerisms sa hands. She studied me and watched all my vlogs, connected with me, and tried to understand what I was feeling at that time. So I really, really love Kaila,” shared Karen, who believes Kaila’s acting from Viral Scandal to MMK is proof enough that she’s going places.

She opted not to coach Kaila on every scene to lessen the pressure, “Kasi alam kong mahirap ‘pag the entire time nag-a-act siya tapos pagsasabihan mo siya. Parang, she’s in the zone, so I’m going to leave her on her own.” Besides, the Kapamilya actress already knew what to do, “She did so well without my help anymore. At saka inisip ko baka nahihiya siya na nandito ako. Pressure kaya ‘yun, right? So I gave her space and she did extremely well.”

The former PBB housemate was instead more hands-on with the details in the script such as the jargon to be used, especially on the part taken from her life in jail. Of course, old wounds were inevitably opened, and so was the joy she felt the moment she received her freedom.

“Nung pinapanood ko si Kaila na tumatakbo palabas ng city jail, I cried and I walked away. I was like, ‘Gosh! Nararamdaman ko na naman ulit ‘yung naramdaman ko that time.’ It’s overwhelming to watch things unfold. It’s my history. It’s my life that’s being played. Masakit siya and happy at the same time,” expressed the former disc jockey.

The MMK episode featuring Karen’s life story starts from when she’s a radio DJ until she was detained following a buy-bust operation in 2016 and eventually acquitted in 2021. “Alam kong maraming nakaka-relate kasi hindi lang naman tayo lahat nakakulong sa isang actual na kulungan, pero nakakulong tayo sa mga puso’t isipan natin. Because there’s a pandemic and maybe the environment is not treating us right, right now,” said Karen, hoping the first and upcoming second episode may uplift Kapamilyas who are facing difficult moments.

“I think it would set us free to watch this Part 2 of my story. I hope to inspire all of you to be better in life and in every situation we’re in,” she added.

Catch the second part of the “Karen Bordador Story” portrayed by Kaila Estrada, this Saturday, March 19, in MMK hosted by Charo Santos, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and A2Z.