Ruffa Gutierrez with daughters Venice (left) and Lorin
While Ruffa Gutierrez doesn’t mind her two daughters showing interest in show biz, she said she wouldn’t allow Lorin, 14, and Venice, 12, to pursue it full-time until they finish their studies.
“Pretty soon, they will be doing ‘semi-show biz’ lang—photo shoots, commercials. But no movies, and especially, no loveteams—that’s where it all starts. I was part of one when I was young, and my mom (Annabelle Rama) was just there looking after me all the time. And I don’t want to be a strict stage mom,” Ruffa said in a recent interview.
Not to mention sending them to an international school isn’t cheap, she quipped.
“I have sacrificed a lot to have my children study in a good school. So I hope they focus first on studying and earning a college degree. My dream is for them to attend an Ivy League school someday,” the 43-year-old actress related, adding that KC Concepcion was her career or life peg for her daughters.
The kids appear on the reality series, “It Takes Gutz to Be a Gutierrez,” which is now on its fifth season on E! Channel. But that’s fine, according to Ruffa, because she makes sure that they don’t get overexposed.
“They’re filmed after their classes,” she pointed out. “And besides, they’re with the family.”
Now that Lorin and Venice are growing into young ladies, Ruffa better understands now why her mom had to be protective of her back in the day.
“My mom worried a lot while raising me, because I was her only girl; I have two. Kids then weren’t as wild as they are nowadays, so I feel the need to be protective, too, especially since social media is easily accessible,” she said.
Ruffa didn’t let Lorin create social media accounts until she was 13; Venice isn’t allowed yet. But the girls know that the rule is for their own good.
“I think 13 is the right age, because sometimes, you see 9-year-olds on Instagram posting the weirdest stuff. You’ll have more of a brain by the time you turn 13,” Venice jested.
Though they came from a show biz family, the girls said they didn’t allow that fact to go to their head. Lorin surmised that going to an international school helped them stay grounded.
“We didn’t grow up being treated differently just because our family is in the biz. Most of our classmates have no idea who we are, so they don’t have a predetermined image of us. I feel like a normal kid—I don’t see myself as being of higher status than anyone else,” the precocious teenager said, adding that she and her sister also don’t let intrigues about the family bother them.
“What strangers say about our family isn’t important,” Lorin stressed. “At the end of the day, we know what really goes on in our lives.” Venice echoed Lorin’s sentiments, pointing out that a lot of the rumors out there were “fake,” anyway.
As for the love life of their mother, who’s reportedly in a relationship with French entrepreneur Jordan Mouyal, the girls don’t seem to meddle much. “If my mother is happy, then I’m happy, as well,” Lorin said. Venice added: “She can love whoever she wants, because we know we’re still going to be her priority.”
Seemingly touched by her daughters’ words, Ruffa said Lorin and Venice were the best things that happened in her life.
“They changed me and my life—I’m a lot more loving and giving because of them. Before, it was all about myself. Now, it’s all about them,” she said.