When Diether showed up two Mondays ago at Annabel’s Restaurant (Tomas Morato Avenue, Quezon City) for this Conversation, he was wearing a Band Aid across his nose which was hurt during the shooting of an episode for the ABS-CBN early-afternoon daily soap Recuerdo de Amor (which also stars, among others, Carmina Villarroel).
"I got it during a fight scene with Carlos (Morales, another hunk, though not the ‘Bench specie’)," Diether begged off when asked if he could be photographed. "I don’t think I would look good with a plaster on my face, would I?"
True to form, the Bench Fix image model was very particular with his hair which looked good that Monday afternoon.
"I don’t care how I look as long as my hair is okay," said Diether.
He has just finished shooting his first movie with Rosanna Roces, Star Cinema’s Vida La Rose, directed by Chito Roño, and is now shooting another starrer with an equally sexy/seductive leading lady, Joyce Jimenez, for Regal Films, directed by Maryo J. delos Reyes.
No, the topic of this Conversation didn’t revolve around the usual issues (you know, phony romance with this and that actress and some such ho-hum diurnal showbiz staple). Instead, Conversations tried to probe the sexual side of Diether who, no doubt about it, is one of the country’s most intriguing hunks (just like his four other co-hunks at ABS-CBN, namely Piolo Pascual, Bernard Palanca, Jericho Rosales and Carlos Agassi).
Are you romantic?
"Very! I can turn a dull evening into a magically romantic night."
How?
"You can watch a romance movie together in the privacy of your room, with the girl’s head resting on your shoulder. Just the two of you. Or you can listen to classical music together, with the lights dimmed a bit. You set the mood. Sometimes, I play old songs, especially Elvis Presley’s Love Me Tender. I play it all the time. It never fails to put my date in the mood."
How many times have you played that song?
"A lot of times."
With the same girl or with different partners?
"Basta, a lot of times. They react the same way all the time. Feeling siguro nila ako si Don Juan de Marco. Besides the music, the lighting really helps a lot. I use aroma candles – and Bench scent, of course!"
What was the kinkiest experience you’ve ever had?
(Thinks hard) "With someone or with myself?"
With someone, of course!
(Trying to "edit" his memory) "It happened on the beach – at twilight! We were on one of the islands scattered around the place. It took us a while to reach there, kaya medyo lumulubog na ang araw nang dumating kami. We had the island all to ourselves. Actually, we got lost. We were just canoeing around and we drifted into that island. We stayed there for two hours, savoring every moment, enjoying every minute of it. I don’t want to go into details lest I get accused of being a kiss-and-tell type."
What was your most memorable intimate experience?
"The first time, of course. I think I was only 15 then. The girl, slightly older than I was, had a boyfriend. She was a good friend of mine and I never realized that she was mistaking my fondness for her for something more than friendship. She was 18."
Do you prefer younger women or older women?
"Young women with a mature outlook in life. Maraming bagets ngayon na mature ang isip."
I’m sure you have had encounters with older women...
"... oo naman. Before I get into showbiz and now that I am in showbiz."
What did you learn from older women?
"They gave me tips on how to take care of younger women. Older women use their minds better than younger women do; younger women can be impulsive, basta sige na lang nang sige. They don’t think; they just go ahead and do it."
Differentiate sex for lust and sex with/for love...
"... sex for lust is a passing fancy while sex with love and for love has a more lasting effect, and gives you a different kind of high."
Have you ever had any May-December affair?
"I have lots of much older women friends but none of them naman are into the ‘December’ of their lives. But I never had any affair with any of them because they are just my friends talaga."
Are you vain (just like most goodlooking guys)?
"No. Not at all. I’m not conscious of my looks. The only thing I’m conscious about is my hair. If my hair is okay, then I feel that everything’s okey lang."
How do you take care of your body?
"I work out a lot, three to four times a week. I do a lot of cardiovascular exercises, I lift weights, I also play basketball. Sports-minded talaga ako, e. I eat a lot of fiber, lots of fruits. I drink a lot of water, as in a lot."
What about sleep?
"At least seven to eight hours a night. If I get less than that, parang tuliro ako."
Does your heart condition (Post-Ventricular Contraction, PVC) stop you from engaging in strenuous workouts?
"I sometimes suffer from irregular heartbeat (Just like another Bench Hunk, Martin ‘Borgy’ Manotoc, when he was small. – RFL) and my doctor has advised me to just limit my workouts. I do it carefully. I don’t feel complete kasi unless I work out regularly."
Weight-lifting?
"Bawal. But the lighter weights are okay."
Sex?
"Hindi bawal. Actually, the doctor said it’s good for the heart, as long as you don’t overdo it."
Which part of your body is "insurable"? (Jennifer Lopez has her famous butt reportedly insured for $1 billion.)
"I don’t know. I haven’t thought of it. Maybe not a part but my whole body."
How much would you insure it for?
"Maybe just enough for me to stop working and just sit pretty the rest of my life."
You and the other Hunks (of ABS-CBN, including Jericho Rosales, Piolo Pascual, Carlos Agassi and Bernard Palanca) seem to be packaged like choice cuts, prime rib. Doesn’t that make you feel like you’re a piece of meat?
"I hope people will see beyond just the physical, that we are ‘pieces of meat’ who are not just for display but who can do something else, such as sing and dance – and act. It’s fun being a Hunk but only for a while. We take our shirts off on TV and expose ourselves from the waist up and people shouldn’t expect us to show something more. We’re comfortable with what we’re doing now, but I don’t think we should do more than that – not on national television."
When you walk around, do you feel that when people, especially women, look at you they are like stripping you naked?
"Sometimes, I do feel that way – na parang hinuhubaran nila ako. Feeling ko para bang Bench briefs na lang ang suot-suot ko."
Do you think the only thing most women want is your body?
"Remember that Mel Gibson movie What Women Want? How I wish I can read women’s minds so I will know what they really want from me. There are women who make me feel very uncomfortable when they look at me. They start looking at my face, they smile and then their eyes go lower, lower and lower and stop there. My first impulse is to cover ‘it’ with my hand."
Aren’t you flattered that women are fantasizing over your body?
"Of course, it’s flattering but at the same time it can make me feel uncomfortable."
Does it lessen your self-worth? You know, being admired for your body but not so much for your acting (or singing-dancing) ability.
"It does, sometimes."
How do you react to people of all sexes making a pass at you?
"It happens all the time – when you least expect it. How do I react to them? Well, like everybody else, my first reaction is to cover ‘it,’ but sometimes the reaction comes too late. By the time you cover ‘it,’ nahawakan ka na doon, nahipuan ka na. Oh, well, you tell yourself, ‘I’ll just shrug it off.’ Part of the hazards of the trade, you know."
By the way, has anybody ever taken you home?
(Emphatically) "No!"
Before showbiz ...
"...there have been a lot of invitations but I was able to resist the temptations. I always bore in mind that, if I gave in, I might regret it."
What about now that you’re in showbiz?
"There are more invitations and I am able to resist the temptation. Who knows, somebody might be leading you to a trap and if you fall, you might regret it all your life."
You’re staying alone, aren’t you?
"Yeah. In my own pad."
Have you ever taken anybody home, honestly now?
(Thinks awhile again, hesitating) "Wala akong maalala. Oh, yes, I’ve invited some of my female friends to take a look at my place but not to stay over or to sleep there."
What was the most indecent proposal that you’ve ever received?
"Well, when I was still a student, a rich gay offered to rent a house for me with a car for my use, and to pay for my tuition fee. That was when I was supporting myself through school. I politely declined the offer. I told him, ‘That’s very kind of you but thank you very much.’ I needed help, all right, but not in that form – you know, with an expectation of something in return."
Your body, you mean?
"Yes. What else?"
Do you sleep in the nude?
"No, even if I’m alone in my pad. I wear Bench boxer’s shorts in going to sleep. I’m more comfortable that way. And Bench perfume."
What was the craziest dream that you’ve ever had?
"Once, I dreamed that I was sleeping with two women, one of them a model that I knew and the other a complete stranger. They were calling me, ‘Your Highness!’ at para bang they were under my spell. Just when they were starting to fight over me, I woke up. I slept again and waited for the dream to resume but it did not, so I never knew who between the two women finally got me."
What’s the last thing on your mind before you go to sleep?
"I assess what I did for the day, niri-review ko ang mga ginawa ko sa araw na yon. If I discover that I miss out on something, nati-tense ako. I’d tell myself, ‘Tomorrow, I’ll make bawi!’"
And the first thing that you do upon waking up?
"What’s for lunch? Because I usually wake up at lunchtime. It’s my routine. I sleep late, so I wake up late."
If you had a choice of a girl you could go to bed with, who would she be?
"Estella Warren, the girl in Planet of the Apes. She’s a model; she first appeared with Sylvester Stallone in Driven. She’s gorgeous! I hope I’ll dream about her when I go to sleep tonight."