Showbiz Roundup: Liam Payne’s death; Willie Revillame’s fitness trainer

The untimely death of Liam Payne, who rose to fame as a member of the 2010 boy group One Direction, reunited fans of different generations from around the world to mourn the loss of a worldwide star.

Payne’s death at 31 topped the past week’s entertainment headlines, along with news of Willie Revillame’s hiring of a new fitness trainer in preparation for his political campaign.

Here are some of the biggest entertainment headlines from the week of October 11 to 17.

Liam Payne, 31

Former One Direction member Liam Payne was found dead after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, October 16, local officials said. He was 31 years old.

Buenos Aires police said in a statement that Payne fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in the trendy Palermo neighborhood of Argentina’s capital, resulting in “extremely serious injuries.” Medics confirmed his death on the spot, the statement said.

Per reports on Argentinia’s Todo Noticias TV channel, Payne fell into a courtyard and that authorities were investigating the circumstances of his death and conducting an autopsy.

The British singer was in Buenos Aires to attend the concert of his former bandmate Niall Horan.

Payne had a 7-year-old son, Bear Grey Payne, with his former girlfriend, the musician Cheryl who was known as Cheryl Cole when she performed with Girls Aloud. He is also survived by his parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, and his two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola.

Willie Revillame taps Carlos Yulo’s personal trainer

After announcing his senatorial candidacy, Willie Revillame is seeking the help of Hazel Calawod, who served as the personal trainer of two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, to prepare for an unspecified “commitment.”

On his Facebook page on October 13, Revillame shared a photo of himself in what appeared to be a workout session on the stationary bike, as he was being assisted by Calawod.

“This is the beginning to condition my mind and body for a commitment. With Coach Hazel Calawod the personal trainer of Gold Olympic Medalist Carlos Yulo,” he wrote.

The Australia-based Calawod introduced herself as a Harvard-certified human factors specialist, MIT-certified data scientist, and sports therapist on her Facebook page. She was among the core members of Yulo’s team throughout the entirety of the 2024 Paris Olympics whose contribution the athlete considered essential.

Nicole Hyala, Chris Tsuper bid farewell to ‘Tambalan’

Radio personalities Nicole Hyala and Chris Tsuper have parted ways as on-air tandem after the latter left Love Radio to pursue public service.

The radio DJs announced this through their program “Tambalan” last October 11, with Nicole turning emotional over the sudden departure of her partner from the station.

“For now, the path is unclear. Why would I choose this direction? And for those people who are asking, I’m pursuing a new passion, which is public service,” said Chris, whose real name is Adrian Policena.

“I didn’t want to leave radio, but there are certain legal requirements that we have to comply with,” he further said, noting a company policy that those who would file their candidacy for election are deemed to have automatically resigned from their posts.

Nicole admitted that Chris’ decision was a “surprise” to her and to their staff, adding that she had even already thought about the 30th-year celebration of their tandem.

“I never thought that it would only be up to 20 years,” Nicole quipped, noting that she was only informed of Chris’ plan two weeks prior to his exit from the radio network.

In an Instagram post, Nicole regarded the end of their tandem as the “most painful challenge” she has endured so far.

“It’s hard to find the words to say goodbye to something that has been a part of us for so long. This may be the end, but the memories will live on in each of us,” she said. Nicole also clarified that she is not leaving the radio station because it is her “life.”

“Radio is my life and I cannot imagine a day without it. I have not thought about doing radio without Chris Tsuper,” she admitted. “[But] like all the other challenges I have conquered, this too shall pass. This is by far the most painful for me, but I will get over it.”

Chris has already filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for a councilor post in Lucban, Quezon.

Justin Soriano defends Pia Wurtzbach

Controversial makeup artist Justin Louise Soriano stood by Pia Wurtzbach, as he addressed rumors that the Miss Universe 2015 titleholder stole “contacts and connections” to prop herself up in the fashion industry.

Soriano, who is known as the former makeup artist of fashion icon Heart Evangelista before their falling out in mid-2023, defended Wurtzbach in response to one @red_lips_rosy_cheeks_ who accused his new muse of “cheating” through getting someone’s “contacts and connections.”

He claimed the rumors about Wurtzbach stealing somebody’s contacts in the fashion scene were made to “draw hate” against the beauty queen. He further said that Wurtzbach was already “well connected” in the fashion industry as she attended many fashion shows as Miss Universe in New York.

“Pia never ever stole any contacts or whatever. Especially us, her glam team. We are only [her] glam team and we are not acquainted with, nor close to any PR officers [of fashion houses]. Also, Pia is Pia! She has walked the runway in New York when she was Miss Universe. She already attended a lot of fashion shows in New York way back [in] 2015,” said Soriano on Instagram last October 12.

“That cheating thing is actually invented so people can draw hate towards Pia. It’s a good thing that when brands hear or read these, all the more that they show love to Pia. The universe is really so powerful. [You] throw hate? The hate goes back to you,” he said, adding that Wurtzbach was already friends with fashion heavyweights Imran Amed and supermodel Natalia Vodianova, whose husband, is Dior executive Antoine Arnault.

Describing himself as a “Pia warrior,” Soriano said that the rumors of stolen contacts have persistently gone around for “more than a year,” and that he’s sad for those who are peddling such allegations against the fashion personality.

“Knowing how it works in [the] PR world. Even if you know the contact person [HQ] will be the one to approve,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t mind the bashing because that’s part of life. Hopefully, though karma won’t come back to haunt their family.”

Justin Soriano on Pia Wurtzbach’s ‘lack of network’

Justin Louise Soriano also came to Jeremy Jauncey’s defense, after netizens recalled that the latter spoke about Pia Wurtzbach not having a “network” in the fashion industry, and having to work her way up.

In response to a netizen, Soriano explained that Wurtzbach was already friends with a few people in the industry, although at the time he didn’t know they could help her break into Fashion Week.

“Jeremy knows them already. In fact, he is friends with them. He didn’t know that one day these people could actually help Pia. Imagine that! Everything unfolded because they wanted to help. Just because Jeremy captioned that doesn’t mean they really don’t have that much connection in fashion,” he said.

Soriano underscored that the married couple didn’t want to “use” people for their own benefit, saying he could prove his claims.

“But Pi and Jeremy are not the type to “use” people, to “take advantage.” They’re not the type to ask favors. If they can do it on their own, they will. Do I have to make a complete video explaining this? Coz I can provide a whole timeline with photos of course. I mean, I am not going to pretend to know everything if I don’t have enough proof and knowledge,” he said, adding that people should not “change the narrative” because they don’t know anything.

“You only know things superficially. You know nothing, just rumors,” he concluded his comment.

Jauncey’s October 2023 post, in which he expressed admiration for Wurtzbach for her hard work, recently gained traction after netizens pointed out that the former stated that the latter had “no connection” in the fashion industry.

“Three years ago, you told me you wanted to break into European fashion—but we had no network, no opportunities, and no credibility,” wrote Jauncey in part of his caption at the time.

Vice Ganda on ‘demolition job’ vs ‘It’s Showtime’

On the 15th anniversary press conference of “It’s Showtime,” host Vice Ganda claimed that there is an ongoing “demolition job” against the show, amid a string of bashing and rumors hounding its hosts and the noontime show itself.

“Well, there really was, or there really is a demolition job against ‘It’s Showtime.’ But we are not going to say where this is coming from. What they are doing on social media, that’s a demolition job, right? The trolls are part of it, they have bad intentions, so that’s a demolition job,” he said.

Vice Ganda appeared to be referring to recent pregnancy rumors hounding host Jackie Gonzaga, who was supposedly impregnated by fellow host Ion Perez. Incidentally, Perez is Vice Ganda’s partner. Gonzaga has already shut down the rumors as “fake news.”

Meanwhile, there are also reports claiming that the noontime show would end its run on GMA in December.

Despite this, Vice Ganda is confident the noontime show would “keep on going,” noting that a “demolition job” is mounted by people who want to take down someone from a certain position.

“It could be that we were capable of being in a certain position, and others may want to attain that kind of position. We have experienced it, so others want to have that kind of experience also, and to be able to do that, they need to go that route,” he said. “We just have to deal with it and we just have to keep on going.”

Noting the past struggles of the noontime show, Vice Ganda reiterated that the hosts and crew of “It’s Showtime” are strong enough to battle “these negativities,” as they are all united towards a common goal.

“It will be hard if we’re not united. We have to do this together because if we battle these hardships alone, we’ll be weak. We won’t succeed. That is the essence of the strength of this team. We are one, together, against and for everything.

KC Concepcion reunites with ex-Aly Borromeo

KC Concepcion attended a football event where she seemed to have spent time with her ex-boyfriend, Filipino-American footballer Aly Borromeo, sending netizens abuzz with reconciliation speculations.

The actress documented the event, Azkals Celebrity Cup, through her Instagram page last October. 7, showing photos of herself with her companions including her half-sister Samantha Concepcion. KC also shared a video of her meeting with her cousin, performer Gab Valenciano.

Interestingly, Concepcion included in her post a clip of Aly playing football with other players in the rain.

“Rain couldn’t stop the game. Came full circle being around the sport, my crew, and the football fam again!” she said in the caption. “Thanks for the invite fam. Sunday’s best.”

Noticeably, Aly’s sister, Annie Borromeo, was among those who left a comment on the actress’ post.

“Love this,” Annie said, adding a football and a purple heart emoji.

In response, KC said, “Missed you!” to which Annie replied, “Wish I was there with you, guys.”

Netizens were then quick to point out Aly’s appearance on KC’s Instagram post. Aly, for his part, also gave a glimpse of the event via his Instagram Stories and described it as “good times.” His post has already expired but has been re-uploaded on social media.

While KC and Aly have yet to confirm or deny the reconciliation rumors, the pair were also reportedly together in Paris last August.

KC and Aly revealed their relationship in 2016. The pair reportedly broke up in 2018.