Former Pinoy Big Brother Otso housemates Batit Espiritu and Lou Yanong will play as Badong Magtibay and Corrine Ledesma in the upcoming stage musical “Tabing Ilog the Musical” which is based on the iconic 90’s Kapamilya teen drama.
Being part of the millennial generation who wasn’t able to catch the original series, Batit and Lou had to double their efforts in doing research in order to deliver on-point portrayals of the characters originally played by Paolo Contis and Desiree del Valle. Batit even interviewed older family members, and his Kuya told him that Tabing Ilog was such a huge Sunday habit that ‘90s kids would watch the episode first before heading to the church. Having dreamt of being a theater actor since he was young, Batit feels excited to finally put his dreams into reality. Meanwhile, Lou also prepared by catching up on the original Tabing Ilog episodes online.
To tickle the audience’s excitement, the duo performs a sample of a song-and-dance number from the musical show.
Batit and non-showbiz girlfriend, Mariel Ellaine are celebrating their first anniversary as a couple on March 1. The budding actor says that they only see each other once or twice every month since Mariel resides in Nueva Ecija. When asked if the long distance and his new life as a public personality affect their relationship, Batit admits that the situation can be a source of quarrel at times. “Minsan po siguro nagiging problema pero hindi naman po ‘yun hadlang para bitawan naming ‘yung relasyon naming,” he expresses. Batit describes his girlfriend as understanding and supportive; and he’s thankful that there was never a time when the circumstances almost tore them apart.