- Thia Thomalla and Mikee Quintos are the two newest leading ladies of Alden Richards in The Gift
- The two admitted that they became victims of bullying online after being paired with Alden
- The two shared how they cope with the situation
Alden Richards has two new leading ladies for his primetime series The Gift. Beauty queen Thia Thomalla and Mikee Quintos are the two actresses paired with the Kapuso actor.
Thia, who has her first-ever acting role, admitted that she earned bashers online after being partnered with Alden.
The actor was previously paired with Maine Mendoza as one half of the phenomenal love team AlDub.They became popular in 2015 and lasted for three years. The two also starred in several projects and collected legion of fans.
Previously, Alden was also linked to Marian Rivera (Carmela, 2014) and Louise delos Reyes (Alakdana, 2011; One True Love, 2012; Mundo Mo’y Akin, 2013).
Thia shared: “I always have believed na there are a lot of people you can’t please, and then some people who will not be happy about what you do or whatever you are doing in your life. But what I admire about Alden’s fans would be that they are very protective kay Alden. And I admire that kasi bihira na lang yung loyalty sa mga fans ngayon. I think, you know, that he is very lucky with them to have them in his life.
“To answer your question about experience being bullied… Even in school, I have experienced that, so I am not really surprised that it also happens nowadays. Kasi, I don’t think it is just happening to me, but to a lot of people. So, I think, what I can encourage people to do is to be mindful of what they say, rather than just saying something. Kasi, imagine if those words would come back to you…” she said in an interview during the GMA All New Primetime red-carpet event at Shangri-La Mall held on Tuesday, September 10.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2bnlkNgRBt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Meanwhile, Mikee directly said yes when asked about bullying. But the actress admitted that the experience was not new to her.
“Yes, to answer that question din. Meron din naman po akong mga nababasa since my first-ever project, Encantadia. Feeling ko na-build ko sa sarili ko, ayokong nagbabasa ng mga comments—good or bad—kasi madali akong ma-hurt. Pero na-realize ko din na hindi siya maiiwasan.”
Despite this, Mikee remained thinking about the brighter side of things.
“At the end of the day, yung mga taong nakakasalubong mo every day, yung mga ngumingiti pag nakikita ka, sila yung nagpapaalala sa akin kung bakit ako nandito. Yung purpose na yun, yung giving smiles to other people, mas nananalo yun, kahit anong bash na nasasabi nila,” Mikee concluded.
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After the presscon, Thia and Mikee shared their thoughts about bagging their big roles in the series.
Thia considered her role and her leading man Alden as blessings in her life. She narrated that she cried tears of joy upon getting her role.
“Super, super lucky. I feel super blessed. The project is a huge blessing in my life right now being part of The Gift, and also working with Alden is also a huge blessing in my life. I cried tears of joy and I was walking down the street pa. Crossing the street and I got the call, and I was crying all the time,” she recalled.
Does Thia feel pressured about her role?
“Yes, nakaka-pressure talaga siya. May days na hindi ako nakatulog kasi pressured na nga, pero I accepted the challenge because, I believe, kung walang pressure, walang different outcome. Nakaka-pressure talaga siya. It gives me the challenge and determination to do better as an actress and as a human.”
Meanwhile, Mikee echoed the words of Thia who similarly felt the pressure and challenge.
“The pressure is there, lalo na ang laki ng movie ni Alden ngayon,” said Mikee referring to Alden and Kathryn Bernardo’s film Hello, Love, Goodbye, which earned almost P1 billion worldwide making it as the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time.
“But, like I said, if you use the pressure the right way and you use it as motivation, it’s gonna give you more than you expect from yourself,” she continued.
“Actually, hindi. Never ko na-imagine,” pag-amin ni Mikee.
“Yeah, it’s a challenge. Medyo matagal bago siya nag-sink in.”
Nevertheless, Mikee was happy for Alden.
“He’s been very sweet. He really goes out of his way para ma-feel naming okay lang maging comfortable kami sa kanya. Nakakatulong ang pagiging ganoon niya. And friends na kami before pa. Naging madali naman with him.”
Mikee shared that she somehow expected that she will be bashed online after pairing up with Alden.
“I talked about bashing earlier and being paired with Alden… it’s kind of expected. Even if you expect it, minsan hindi mo din ine-expect na maa-affect ka, yung ganoon… Pero natututo ako maging matapang and lalong nari-remind ako kung bakit ako nandito in the first place—yung pagmamahal ko for may craft, yung mga taong nakakatrabaho ko, the creative team… Never ko in-expect na magbibigay sila ng ganitong role sa akin, and I don’t want them to regret giving that to me. So I really wanna do my best,” Mikee explained.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAUS4l6vg40
GMA Network’s newest series The Gift premieres Monday, September 16.
After the separation of the AlDub love team earlier this year, Alden was also linked to beauty queen and actress Winwyn Marquez. Winwyn also admitted that she was attacked by bashers online after their dating rumors began even thought she later clarified that she and Alden are just friends.
Apart from this, Kapuso actresses Sam Pinto,Julie Anne San Jose, and Bea Binene also gained attention online after being romantically linked to Alden in the past.
