After Marian Rivera turned down her role in ‘First Yaya’ due to the inconvenience of lock-in taping, GMA Network seemed to have found a new actress to replace her.
During the grand reveal in ’24 Oras’ earlier, GMA Network announced that Sanya Lopez will be replacing Marian Rivera in the series, ‘First Yaya.’
According to Jun Lalin’s news article in Abante, the lock-in taping for the teleserye, ‘First Yaya’ will start on the 2nd week of November.
Aside from Sanya, a lot of names were suggested to replace Marian are Kapuso stars Maine Mendoza, Glaiza de Castro, and Andrea Torres.
Just last month, Marian confirmed that she was no longer doing the teleserye because of the lock-in,
“Mahirap man sa akin, kasi hinulma itong karakter na ito para sa akin, at nung storycon, sinabi nila na ginawa nila ang First Yaya ayon sa kapasidad na mag-swak sa akin, e, nagkaroon nga ng pandemya.”
One of the reasons the actress opted out of the planned lock-in taping for the series is to continue taking care of her kids, Zia and Ziggy, particularly with the new normal education setting.
“Nagkataon na may pandemya tayong hinaharap ngayon. Sabi ko talaga, ‘Siguro, hindi pa ito yung time.’ Kasi, mahirap sa akin naka-lock in, hindi ko makita ang mga anak. Nagpapadede pa ako kay Sixto, 1, inaasikaso ko pa si Zia, 4, sa online class niya.”
Even so, GMA Network tried to adapt to the needs of the actress, where a recommended seven-day taping would take place instead of long weeks of taping. The actress still chose to be a full-time mother to her kids.
“In fairness sa GMA, naintindihan nila kung saan ako nanggaling. Laking pasasalamat ko talaga sa GMA na every time na may ganitong nangyayari sa buhay ko, nabubuntis ako, hindi ko puwedeng gawin, e, bukal sa loob nila na tanggapin nila ang desisyon ko at sinusuportahan nila ako dun.”
Sanya started in showbiz in 2013 via ‘Dormitoryo.’ In 2016, she bagged a lead role in ‘Encantadia,’ starred in ‘Haplos’ in 2017, ‘Cain at Abel’ with Dingdong Dantes and Dennis Trillo, and ‘Dahil sa Pag-ibig’ in 2019.
