John Lloyd Cruz surprises 90-year-old Cebuana fan

CEBU, Philippines — John Lloyd Cruz surprisingly turned up at the 90th birthday celebration of longtime Cebuana fan, Vicenta Araneta.

In a Facebook video, the actor is shown embracing and giving the elated grandmother a peck on the cheek as her party was being held in the evening of April 5 at the Cebu Grand Convention Center.

According to Pep.ph, the birthday celebrator’s granddaughter, Shing Araneta Pacaña, said that Lola Vicenta felt like an 18-year-old all over again after seeing in the flesh her celluloid idol.

In a separate video, John Lloyd can be seen kissing the grandma’s hand before bidding her goodbye.

In an interview with Pep.ph, the younger Araneta said that they merely requested for a video greeting from the ABS-CBN star. To their surprise, John Lloyd suddenly showed up at the party venue.

“Minutes after my grandma’s thank you message to her guests, John Lloyd surprised her. He arrived and went straight and sat down with our lola,” Araneta told Pep.ph.

Araneta said their grandma was beyond herself with happiness as she had been an avid follower of John Lloyd’s television shows and movies.

“Sobra! As in kilig na kilig talaga. She was the happiest that night. She is a big fan of John Lloyd ever since. Completo DVDs niya sa lahat ng movies ni JL,” shared Araneta, who told Pep.ph that she was a cousin of Kim Araneta-Adarna, sister-in-law of Ellen Adarna.

Ellen, John Lloyd’s girlfriend whom he reportedly shares a son named Elias Modesto, is based in Cebu.

“So yung brother ni Ellen ang nagpapunta kay JL sa party,” added Araneta.

Among the Kapamilya network’s A-list stars, John Lloyd famously took an indefinite leave from showbiz since October 2017. He has since been spotted several times in Cebu and photographed engaging in domestic activities with Ellen, a far cry from his previous life as a sought-after actor.

Most recently, the couple – with Ellen carrying their son while John Lloyd pushing a stroller behind her – was snapped at the Queen City Memorial Gardens, where Ellen’s dad, Alan Modesto Adarna, was laid to rest.

Last week, a social media post of John Lloyd captioned “Pagbabalik” ignited talks of a comeback, eliciting reactions from a few ABS-CBN stars.

The photo included a logo of a shawarma company endorsed by John Lloyd’s fellow top Kapamilya actor Piolo Pascual and his celebrity-son Inigo Pascual, which had fans concluding the upcoming project was only for a brand endorsement and not a full-on acting return.