Actor Jake Cuenca revealed that his relationship with girlfriend Kylie Verzosa has never been this strong. He said that the present health crisis has been instrumental in making their bond more solid than ever.
“We’re together the whole quarantine period and I consider each passing day a luxury. It’s like the lockdown is an early stage of our married life. Maybe, it’s an early experience for the two of us. Our relationship grew stronger,” the 32-year-old actor told Manila Standard in a virtual press conference for Star Magic’s “Lockdown Portraits” project.
“Usually, when we’re together on a normal day sans the lockdown, you work with a schedule, right? Subconsciously, twenty percent of you are going to the next day. You can see yourself going to a taping or shooting. So, this is really the first time that I gave someone my undivided attention,” he added.
Jake said that Kylie has his 100 percent attention and it’s the first time that he’s able to give his undivided attention to the former Miss International winner.
“We have our own routine. Like in my case, I’m a morning person, so it’s my alone time. She wakes up later so she’ll have her alone time in the afternoon. After that, we’ll connect. It’s important that you make your respective schedule. Alone time is essential in a relationship,” Jake admitted.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jake stated that it’s vital to still have a bright perspective in life.
“The big challenge is to stay positive despite the hard times. In spite of everything that’s going on, we must learn how to count our blessings and remain grateful for every little thing we have. That’s what I practice every day when I wake up. I express my gratitude for every little thing that I possess,” Jake concluded.
* * * *
For a talent and casting agency whose bread and butter is to send models and talents to live events, film, TV and commercial shoots, the lockdown due to the pandemic was a big blow. And sadly, their freelance workers were badly hit because most of them live from paycheck to paycheck with no insurance or emergency funds. So, it was really a financial nightmare.
Since the lifting of the ECQ in Metro Manila, founders Jojo Flores and Maricar Moina of JAMS Artist Production wasted no time in attending meetings and calling people to discuss new options for their production company.
“We have to evolve and level up. I think it’s the best way to adapt to the new normal,” said Jojo in a recent interview. “We don’t want to wait for projects to come to us. We stopped everything and stayed home for three months. Now it’s time to be productive again.”
“We have new projects that we are working on aside from our annual ‘JAMS Top Model Philippines,’” said Maricar.
According to the couple, they have already started the online registration of their flagship project. In fact, registration is some provinces is already closed and finalized.
“Once we are allowed to mount live events, we will immediately announce the date of the next Jams Top Model Philippines, from local gala to the grand finals,” Maricar added.
They said they are aware that there are many aspirants from 100 cities and municipalities who are just waiting for their announcement so they could prepare for the competition. With a cash prize of 500,000, who wouldn’t want to win?
But the famous modeling search will have to wait for now because big gatherings are not yet allowed. That’s why they are slowly trekking the path to digital shows and video production.