Though Ashley Ortega may have some advantages as a commercial model, a former skater, and who entered showbiz at 13 years of age; to be paired to GMA-7 Kapuso’s ‘Protégé: The Battle for the Big Artista Break’ runner-up and now considered as the Network’s Teen Drama Prince—Ruru Madrid, still she was replaced by another female teen star and currently her co-star in a weekly comedy family-drama show titled ‘InstaDad’.
Here are some probable reasons why her tandem with Ruru Madrid didn’t pan out:
Her Features Didn’t Fit well with Ruru?
From a Chinese-Spanish-German-Filipino descent, her looks can be strikingly strong against the charming features of the young Madrid.
Back in the 80s, when Regal Films paired Snooky and Gabby Concepcion—it worked for a time, but it fizzled afterwards. Gabby was paired to a more Filipina-looking beauty named Lani Mercado, which has semblance on Gabbi Garcia.
Ashley’s Mayumi couldn’t beat Gabbi’s Marikit in ‘InstaDad’ since hers is the immature character as compared to the latter’s?
Ashley isn’t musically-inclined as opposed to Gabbi?
In terms of beauty, Filipino audiences may have more affinity to going crazy over ‘mestizas’ like Ashley, but not when Gabbi could compete and could play musical instruments-she then is perfect to be paired with Ruru, who also sings.
Both Ruru and Gabbi could play music together on and off-screen, thus the ‘GabRu’ tandem emerged and became an ‘instant hit’ to viewers and fans alike. Garcia was first paired with Madrid in shows like ‘My Destiny’, ‘Seasons of Love’ and recently premiered ‘Let the Love Begin’.
Probably that was one big decision that GMA Artist Management had to make. It may be hard to accept on the Ashley camp, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.
Acting-wise, Ashley is beaten by Gabbi.
Between Ortega and Garcia, the ‘mestiza-looking’ young star may have been ahead in joining the entertainment industry, still the ‘morena-looking’ and now a new endorser for BenchTM’s #LoveLocal with Madrid as her partner; have also proven her mettle in acting.
She won an award for outstanding breakthrough performance by an actress for her role in ‘My Destiny’.
The GabRu may just be a huge hit against AshRu tandem since Filipinos do like a ‘Guy-and-Pip’ tandem.
Ortega though left behind, may just have a bigger chance of making a name for herself still. After all, she’s competed in different countries like Thailand and Malaysia to represent the Philippines and won lots of medals as a figure skater, but with her present role as Yumi (short for Mayumi); she will be tackling a more ‘interesting’ character amongst the triplets in the Sunday afternoon youth-centered drama series.
Given such opportunity, she might be able to outwit Gabbi, who may have ‘difficulty’ of leaving a more pleasant image and might be limited and be identified to some ‘goody two shoes’ characters alone.
