Last January 2009, the news broke out in National television that former matinee idol and action star Rustom Padilla is dead.

As expected, his loyal fans and the people in the showbiz industry were shocked with the news only to find out later on that Rustom Padilla didn’t really “die” literally. It’s just that the actor is back in the country with a different name and a different persona.

I remember listing down Rustom Padilla, along with Jomari Yllana, Mark Anthony Fernandez and Richard Reynoso , as one of my showbiz crushes when I was a little kid. My yaya is a die-hard Carmina Villaroel fan and her cabinet is filled with Rustom-Carmina pictures taken from various magazines. I remember watching him in movies such as Sana Dalawa ang Puso ko (I bet my mom would laugh if she hears me sing the theme song of the movie with matching interpretation), Maruja, Gagay and the movie where he was paired with Snooky Serna. The best Rustom Padilla movie of all time is Mistah, where he shared the limelight with the rest of the Padilla boys.

He was secretly married to his onscreen partner and the two eventually separated. The reasons were never divulged to the public. Carmina went back to the country with her twins and her new partner, Zoren Legaspi. Rustom Padilla decided to stay in the United States of America to find his true happiness.

Two years ago, he made a big revelation while inside the Pinoy Big Brother house. He confessed to Keanna Reeves that he is gay. He was shocked when he found out that people finally appreciated him not as the brother of Robin Padilla, but as who he really is.

He later on appeared in the movie version of Zsa Zsa Zaturnah and eventually earned a Best Actor trophy from it.

Last year, he presented a Best Actor award in a female outfit and she called herself “Gandanghari”. She left the country after the event to do some soul-searching and training in modeling. He even thought of a new name for his new persona. He first thought of “Binibini”, but his foreign friends find it hard to pronounce the pinoy term for lady. She later on settled with BB. Thus, BB Gandanghari was born.

Me giggling like a little kid while asking a question to BB

To be honest, I had mixed feelings when Tita Noemi and Tita Dine announced via plurk about their meet-up with BB Gandanghari. Why would he want to meet bloggers? Does he have a new movie coming out? Is he going to launch a fashion line soon? Or will he relaunch Rusbloom? Still, my fandom for the late Rustom Padilla won. I signed up and went to the event that hot Saturday afternoon.

After waiting for more than an hour, BB Gandanghari finally arrived. Is Rihanna’s Disturbia her signature song? Just asking LOL.

The long wait was all worth it. She apologized to the bloggers and the members of POC because he just arrived from Bohol (where she had some girl bonding sessions with close friends Pops Fernandez and Gretchen Barretto). She was happy upon seeing a good number of bloggers at Mag:net and he sat in front while we were taking some pics of hers.

Majority of the questions asked had something to do with her new persona. I, on the other hand, asked about her plans in film making. She said that she’s taking things “one step at a time” and that making films can wait. I later on asked if she is still willing to accept ‘straight’ roles. He nods.

What I admire about the “late” Rustom Padilla is that he answered all our questions truthfully. Nah, hindi siya showbiz sumagot. If you want to read more on the questions and answers during the fun afternoon, you can refer to the much detailed post of Marocharim.

On the last part of the gathering, BB threw a question to us: Why are you here?
I giggled and answered like a little kid. I confessed that I was a big fan of the “late” Rustom Padilla and that I loved his movie, “Mistah” (That was a good film, he affirmed). I even expressed how my yaya loved Carmina way back (I already said that at the first part of this post LOL) and admired him more when he admitted his true sexuality at the first season of PBBCE. Now, I love her as BB Gandanghari that I even bought a copy of the March 2009 issue of Star Studio (where she was dressed in a number of Hollywood characters) and Yes! Magazine (where BB wore ‘conservative’ clothes). Incidentally, my former boss is also on the cover of both magazines.

Micamyx and BB Gandanghari

BB Gandanghari ended the get-together with photo-ops and autograph signing. BB Gandanghari has a number of quotable quotes already and one of which is “BE all that you can BE”.

More BB-isms and pictures to be posted soon at Pinoy Fans Club. Stay tuned!