JUDY Ann Santos shares homespun and healthy recipes in her cookbook. photo: From Judy Ann’s Kitchen
Actress Judy Ann Santos, who recently took a leave of absence due to her delicate pregnancy, confirmed her ABS-CBN bosses’ decision to wait for her return before resuming production of the TV series “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
Juday, as she is known in the biz, said she was willing to relinquish her role to another actress, but was grateful that her bosses chose to wait for her comeback.
“I almost cried when Sir Deo (Endrinal, business unit head) told me about the decision of Dreamscape (series producer). I was touched,” Santos said during the press conference for her cookbook, “Judy Ann’s Kitchen.”
“I was more than willing to give up the project. I didn’t want to be unfair to the rest of the cast. I love the role, but I don’t want to be branded unprofessional and selfish.”
Also part of the series are Richard Yap, Diether Ocampo, Eddie Garcia, Yam Concepcion and Tirso Cruz III. Santos was supposed to play an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation in the series to be directed by Trina Dayrit and Onat Diaz.
“That would require me to do action scenes. Right now, I’m OK with TV appearances and hosting gigs—nothing too stressful. I also don’t think I can handle heavy drama scenes,” she said.
Santos said she would keep accepting product endorsements, though. “Some of the companies are excited about the new baby.”
Lazy days
WITH husband Ryan Agoncillo at the book launch; her baby bump is now a bit visible photo: Noel Ferrer’s Facebook
The 37-year-old actress said her latest pregnancy was “slightly different” from her first one with Lucho, now 4. “I feel lazy on most days. I also like to eat and sleep often. Maybe it’s psychological since I waited for this baby for a long time.” Santos and husband Ryan Agoncillo also has a 10-year-old adopted daughter, Yohan.
Santos said the baby was the best gift to Agoncillo on Father’s Day last Sunday. “We’ve become much closer as a couple. As for the kids, they are now more informed about what to expect with the coming of another child in the family.”
The actress said that these days, she would often crave crispy food. “I hate anything malansa (fishy), but I try to eat as much salmon as I can since it helps in the baby’s brain development. I had to relearn everything … Things are slightly more difficult now because I’m five years older.”
Santos shared that it was possible that the child was conceived during the family’s three-week vacation in New Zealand.
“I like saying that it’s a kiwi baby,” she said, adding that they had to wait for two months before making the announcement. “We had to wait to hear the heartbeat—that was also what we did with Lucho. We had to make sure there’s a baby inside. It’s harder to explain to the public if we discover later that it was a false alarm.”
Other baby
Juday’s other baby, the cookbook, titled “Judy Ann’s Kitchen,” was released by Anvil. “In all my years in show business, I never imagined that I’d also be a book author,” Santos said. “Coming up with a book is not easy. It’s a long and tedious process.”
She added: “The dishes in the book are those that I serve at home. There’s a chapter on the meals I made for Ryan when we first moved into our house. There are also recipes for dishes I cooked for my kids’ parties. I also included sections on cakes and cookies and healthy organic food so readers will have plenty of options.”
Santos said she also asked a lot of help from friends in writing the cookbook. “It is in Filipino and English. I had to ask someone to check everything. I don’t want people to post all my errors on Instagram,” she pointed out. “If you notice, the last part is straight English—that means I wrote it with someone’s help. But it still came from my heart.”
(mcruz@inquirer.com.ph)