Ruffa Gutierrez
Now that we’re older, we just tend to be with people we’re comfortable with,” said actress Ruffa Gutierrez, who added that she has already come to terms with the fact that the guy she’d end up with will most likely be a Filipino.
Ruffa was once married to Turkish businessman Yilmaz Bektas. She also dated Jordan Mouyal, a French national. These days, she is rumored to be dating Filipino comedian and former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista.
“Baka sa Pinoy na nga talaga ang bagsak ko. I just thought, ‘What would happen if I’d date a foreigner again? Do I relocate myself so I could be with him? Or do I make him live here?’ There are obviously a lot of things that I need to consider,” she told reporters during the recent launch of her hygiene product brand Gutz and Glow by Ruffa Gutierrez.
“Now, this is the mature me speaking. Do I really want to uproot myself and live in a different country? What am I going to do there; go online selling?” she said. Ruffa also talked about the recent reunion between Yilmaz and their daughters Lorin, 19, and Venice, 18, in Istanbul. “I thought it’s going to be the beginning of a lot of great things in terms of us being coparents, but, maybe, what happened was also a closure. It sort of answered their questions like, ‘Who is my father really? What does he look like? How come I’ve not seen him for almost 15 years? How does he feel about me being his daughter?”
‘Very emotional time’
She continued: “For a child, there’s always that curiousness, that need to get to know her dad. I understand that healing from the pain is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight, but goes through a lot of stages. When they met in Istanbul, they cried and hugged their dad. Yilmaz and I also got to talk a little. He said ‘thank you’ to me, too. It was a very emotional time, but now that it’s finished it’s time to move on. If this doesn’t continue, it’s OK, at least they got to see their dad finally.”
Ruffa also reported that Yilmaz is now constantly communicating with their kids. She also told reporters that she was aware of people romantically linking her to Yilmaz again. “If that happens, of course, I will publicly talk about it. I don’t want to play any games. It’s funny because there are a lot of Ruffa-Yilmaz fan sites, and that they started to come out just when Yilmaz and I were no longer together. I feel that there’s no more reconciliation that will happen. I’m sorry to disappoint the fans,” Ruffa pointed out.
‘It’s wrong’
“The only ‘balikan’ that will ever happen is for us to resume being coparents to our children and to have a healthy relationship. In terms of romantic love, wala na. I will no longer remarry Yilmaz, contrary to what’s been written on fan sites. I also think he is dating someone,” she declared. “I understand where they are coming from. As Filipinos, they want us together as a family. But Lorin and Venice are already 19 and 18, respectively. They’re no longer 3 or 2 years old. They’re already adults. It’s wrong for us to reunite just for the sake of our children, who are now adults. You should be with the one you really love and shouldn’t just be in a relationship for your kids.”
Meanwhile, Ruffa said she will begin working on the sequel to the controversial Darryl Yap film “Maid in Malacanang” this November. She is also scheduled to shoot a film with Cesar Montano and his son, Diego, that will be shown in February.
She is also very excited to be the CEO of the Gutz and Glow brand. “We see a lot of possibilities in this business, not only locally but abroad. We can tap the OFWs (overseas Filipino workers). I’ve always been interested in business, but most especially in the business of beauty and well-being. When you venture into something, it also has to be something that you enjoy,” she stressed.
Ruffa added that she has inspired her daughters so much that Lorin will also be launching her own brand in 2023. “She will introduce a different product line. I guess I’ve inspired them a lot, also in terms of my education. I’ve finished college and is now taking up my masters. I told them that I’ve worked so hard as a single mom and my only wish is for them to finish their education, too.”
In fact, Ruffa said Lorin already has so many offers to join show biz. The teenager is a talent of Viva Artist Agency, Inc. and was supposed to be launched this month. “She opted to finish her sophomore year because she understands that it’s important to have a fallback, especially now that talents in show biz stars come and go so quickly.” INQ