At the media conference for Hearts On Ice on March 3, Xian Lim clarified the viral sweet moments between him and co-star Ashley Ortega while taping their upcoming Kapuso series.
Lim first highlighted his preparation for the role, such as his intense training.
“The coach you’re talking about is si coach Ronan– he was my coach when I started being on the ice. From day one, siya talaga ‘yung naka-witness ng paghulog ko, and coach Anna at the same time, Coach Anna Benitez is here. She’s our consultant for Hearts on Ice.
“And ang requirement po dito– actually ang sabi nila sa akin from the very beginning of the show, ‘Sige, maybe you can do some hockey, a little bit of scene.’ Sabi ko, sayang naman. I want to put in the work and siyempre baka kailanganin din ni Direk and mga writers also na makasama ko sa yelo sila Miss Ashley. So sabi ko, sige mag-training tayo. So we’re really preparing for the time to get to a certain level.”
He then pointed out that he documented his skating journey on social media.
“I did post sa Instagram and sa Twitter my journey of skating, so may mga levels po kasi ganyan–there are five basic levels, so ‘yun, to get to that, you have to put in the time, and the work and you have to take a test.
“So finally, ‘yung nakuha ko na ‘yung certificate, parang pwede na kami ni Ashley magsama sa ice, because mahirap naman isasabak agad, magli-lifting eh may blade po kaming suot, so my chance na masagasaan namin ang isa’t isa.”
He then further explained that he and Ortega were taping in a public place and had to portray a theme of love while taking on their characters.
“Lalo ako, si Ashley, stable na stable ‘yan eh. So ‘yung mga choreography namin ni Ashley siyempre on ice, when we we’re dancing tignan ninyo naman sa material naman, it’s very– very much kumbaga, it’s– we play under the theme of love. Di ba parang we’re expressing love for each other ‘yung mga characters eh.
“So siyempre public eh, public ‘yung skating rink eh, and hindi naman namin pwedeng ipasara as much as gusto namin for safety rin, na baka makasagasa ako ng mga bata.
“So we’re skating on a public time, so ‘yung mga emote-emote namin, nakikita ng mga public, siyempre nagtataka sila bakit may nag-eemote na dalawa dito, so I think that’s where it came from. And ang likely na sabihan nila is ‘yung coach, si coach Ronan, na laging nag-aano. Siya kasi ‘yung nagcho-choreo.”
As for Ortega, she maintained that the on-screen pair are only friends.
“Nako wala po, kami po ni Xian we’re just friends. Siyempre nakakatanggap rin po ako ng mga ganyang mga ano almost every single day, pero dedma na lang ako. Si Xian rin naman he’s aware of it. Hindi lang ako eh, pati siya eh.”
Lim and Ortega star in the upcoming Kapuso series Hearts on Ice.
The highly anticipated ice-skating series also features Amy Austria, Rita Avila, Tonton Gutierrez, Lito Pimentel, Ina Feleo, Cheska Iñigo, Kim Perez, Ruiz Gomez, Roxie Smith, Shuvee Etrata, Skye Chua.
According to reports, Filipino Olympic figure skater Michael Martinez also has a special appearance in the upcoming Kapuso series.
Under the direction of Dominic Zapata, Hearts on Ice premieres March 13 on GMA Telebabad.
