Ruffa on Bruno Mars and Twitter

IF SHE had her way, actress-TV host Ruffa Gutierrez said she would rather downplay her family’s relationship with Filipino-American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars.

“It was Bruno’s mom, Bernadette, who mentioned it. People questioned me for posting this bit of info on Twitter. I just wanted to share it with my followers. I thought it was a cute little fact. I thought it was random and cool,” said Ruffa at the launch of Body Tite, the latest body contouring procedure which she endorses for the Belo Medical Group, at the Peninsula Manila Hotel in Makati City on Thursday night.

RUFFA Gutierrez: “Crush ko pa naman si Bruno, only to find out he’s a relative.”

As Ruffa found out, the singer’s grandfather is the cousin of Ruffa’s dad, actor Eddie Gutierrez. “My mom (Annabelle Rama) said that when dad was younger, he stayed with Bruno’s maternal relatives in Hawaii,” the actress explained. “Crush ko pa naman siya, only to find out that he’s a relative.”

Ruffa said her twin brothers Raymond and Richard met Bruno personally at the after-party following the latter’s recent concert at the Big Dome. “Bruno’s family also invited us last weekend, but I had work and wasn’t able to go.”

Ruffa also discussed the significance of Twitter and other social networking sites. “Twitter is not for private people. It’s a great way to market yourself, to promote your TV shows and to be close to the people,” she pointed out. “I tweet to express myself. I don’t like talking about controversial issues, especially if they don’t concern me. The last thing I want to do is make things worse.”

She was referring to the recent incident involving show biz personalities who expressed their opinion on Twitter about the alleged child abuse case against controversial TV host Willie Revillame. The “Willing Willie” host took offense on the comments of Aiza Seguerra, Agot Isidro, Mylene Dizon, Tuesday Vargas and Inquirer Entertainment columnist Lea Salonga, among others.

“I think it would be unfair for people to judge the entire network because of one show or person,” said Ruffa. She’s in the cast of three TV5 programs—the drama series “Mga Nagbabagang Bulaklak,” the showbiz-oriented “Paparazzi” and the talent search “Talentadong Pinoy.”