Abi Kassem and Teetin Villanueva wowed the viewers with their soothing performance of the Barbie Almalbis original composition, “Tabing Ilog”, the theme song of the hit ‘90s teen drama with the same title. After two decades, Tabig Ilog is making a comeback as a stage musical. Abi admitted that there is pressure to being part of the much-awaited production yet she’s extremely thankful as well. Teetin, a professional stage actress, was surprised to be tapped for the show since the original plan was to cast former PBB housemates and MNL 48 members only. She thinks that this would be a good way for the PBB alumni and MNL 48 to have deeper interaction with theater artists.
Also part of the cast is Lou Yanong who was pitted against Abi during their stint inside the Pinoy Big Brother house. Abi confessed that things became a bit uncomfortable following the controversial love triangle between her, Lou, and Andre Brouillette. “Noong nasa loob po kasi kami ng PBB, close po kami ni Lou. Then, noong lumabas siya, natakot na rin ako na lumapit kasi ‘pag lumapit ako may masasabi ‘yung ibang tao. Natakot ako and at the same time natakot din siya,” Abi shared. But after exchanging heartfelt apologies, Abi and Lou are back to being good friends again.
Meanwhile, Teetin was asked to clarify if she has indeed disagreed to ex-boyfriend, JC Santos’ claims that their split-up was solely due to career matters. “Noong time na ‘yun, I was feeling so many things. Admittedly po, I was overwhelmed also with everything that was happening. But if you ask me now, there really is some truth to what he was saying because at that time, he was going through so many things. I don’t blame him if at some point, he sort of lost sight of who he was,” she explained.
Teetin revealed that they haven’t yet talked about the breakup. But with the level of understanding they have for each other, she thinks that there is really no need for a formal closure anymore. “Nagkakaintindihan naman po kami na that’s the best for the both of us,” she expressed.
She added that JC invited her to one of his theater rehearsals. And knowing how much courage JC has put to reach out to her, Teetin responded with a short message. “I told him na, ‘Break a leg sa show mo. I’m happy that you’re taking the time to do theater again because I know that this is what you love doing’. Pero hindi pa po talaga kami nag-uusap. And sa amin naman ni JC kahit dati kung mag-away man kami, ‘pag nagkita kami, okay lang po talaga kami. So, I’m pretty sure when we bump into each other magtatawanan pa kami about it,” Teetin said.