Karla: Funny Ka Season 2 a ‘pleasant surprise’

When Karla Estrada joined showbiz in the late ‘80s, she started out as an actress. She sustained her career through the ‘90s, and in 1995, she bagged the lead role in the movie Kakaibang Karisma. She also launched a singing career but the offers eventually slowed down. 

Instead of moping, she welcomed the opportunity to focus on her children. These days, Karla is known primarily for being the mother of matinee idol Daniel Padilla. When Daniel was proclaimed “Teen King,” Karla in turn was dubbed “Queen Mother.”

She embraced that title wholeheartedly, and eventually her son’s popularity reignited the public’s interest in her. It also led to her joining the cast of Your Face Sounds Familiar’s inaugural season, performing in front of a sold-out crowd at the Kia Theater, and most recently, a lead role in the comedy show Funny Ka, Pare Ko.

Funny Ka, Pare Ko mixes elements of a sitcom and stand-up show. It airs Sunday nights at 9 on Cine Mo, a cable channel exclusively available to ABS-CBN TV Plus subscribers. 

The show became a success that it was given a new season featuring an expanded cast — with Karla still playing the female lead opposite comebacking Kapamilya Bayani Agbayani.

With co-star Bayani Agbayani

Karla says she didn’t expect execs to greenlight a second season of the show, but she is delighted. “It was a pleasant surprise. When they told us, Funny Ka, Pare Ko would have a second season, we were surprised. Our show is on ABS-CBN TV Plus and on a late timeslot but we got very good ratings,” explains Karla.

Karla is very grateful to the Cine Mo production staff for believing in her and in her work, as well as her co-stars.

?Between taping the show and Magandang Buhay, the daily morning talk show Karla co-hosts on ABS-CBN  with Jolina Magdangal and Melai Cantiveros, her schedule is fast-becoming as packed as her eldest son’s.

However, although her days do fill up faster now, Karla still lives life at a slower pace compared to when she was the sole breadwinner of their family. Karla doesn’t work as hard as she did then because Daniel helps her out now. 

“I am able to sleep soundly. My load is a bit lighter now when you compare it with how I weigh,” she laughs. “Twenty-five years din akong nagsakripisyo. I’m only 41 years old but God has given me this opportunity to live a relaxed life. Maybe, that’s the reason why I had to crawl in the early days because of the good life God is giving me now.”

Karla and her son Daniel each have their own lives to lead now, but she still supports Daniel’s endeavors. That’s how she manages to do her own thing and be “Queen Mother” at the same time. —With reports from Almed Garcia and Julian Mauricio