Up & About with Brad Turvey

He’s a generous slice of prime Australian beef, served as you wish. Medium rare or well-done?

From Down Under, gorgeous looker Brad Turvey was an overnight sensation after he was discovered by talent scout/manager Joji Dingcong at a party more than three years ago. So what if the guy from Gold Coast didn’t speak a word of Tagalog? Good looks are more than enough ticket to stardom (in the vicinity of it anyway).

Brad has done only one movie (Star Cinema’s Pinay Pie) and a few sitcoms (the current being NUTS Entertainment) on GMA with which he’s under contract and yet he’s hot copy not only as far as the ladies are concerned – and the gossip mill, too, which has romantically linked him to Pops Fernandez.

In this exclusive Conversation, his first ever, Brad opens his heart on Pops and several other topics, inluding growing up an agnostic in Australia and his fantasy of falling in love with a Smallville star who wants to help change the world by cleaning the environment.

Do you find Pops beautiful?

"Yeah, definitely!"

Beautiful inside-out?

"Yeah, definitely!"

How long have you known Pops?

"Ahhh... I guess close to three years now."

You seem to be compatible... as friends?

"Yeah. We get along very well; we think along the same line. We hold very similar values. I guess we’re just on the same wave length."

The very slight age gap doesn’t matter, does it?

"It doesn’t. It shouldn’t. Whether someone is younger or older doesn’t really matter. I think it’s all to do with frame of mind."

So what’s the real score between Pops and you? Friends... more than friends... special friends... or what?

"We’re very good friends."

Nothing romantic between the two of you?

"Nothing."

Honest?

"Honest! I won’t lie to you!"

But if you had a chance, would you court her? She’s fancy-free.

"Hmmmm. Yeah... no! You see, we’ve pretty much explored avenues before and I think right now we’re happy with the current situation. We’re just friends."

So romance is out of the question, isn’t it?

"I’m not saying that romance is out of the question. What I’m saying is that we’re contented with being friends right now."

How did you meet?

"I think the very first time I met her was during a charity event put up by Keren Pascual’s Shining Star about three years ago. I was there with my then girlfriend from Australia. I was here only for a holiday. It was Joji (Dingcong, talent scout/manager) who brought me to the affair. When I met Pops, I didn’t know who she was. It was only later did I find out who she was."

So you became friends. You confide in each other, I suppose.

"Oh, yes, we do, definitely! Like close friends do."

There are rumors that Pops and Martin might get back together again. How do you feel about it?

"If that’s really what both of them want, I think that will be a great thing for their family. I think I’d be more than happy for both of them and their kids. I know both of them and, especially Pops, I know she won’t rush into anything unless she is sure. If it does happen, I’m sure she’ll make a decision after thoroughly thinking about it. If it’s something that she’s gonna be happy with, then I think it will be great for everyone concerned."

I’ve talked to Martin and he has good things to say about you. Have you met him... more than casually?

"We’ve met quite a few times and we see each other every now and then. And everytime, we talk and have fun. We get along quite well."

So, your status with Pops is "just friends." Aren’t you committed to anybody else?

"No, I’m not. I’m totally free and single at the moment."

By choice?

‘Yeah, by choice. Maybe I haven’t just found the right one yet."

Is it all work and no play for you?

"No. Right now, I’m just focused on work. But if the right person comes along, why not? I’ll give it a try. I think it’s just a matter of finding someone I’m interested in."

There are so many temptations in Manila. How do you, how can you, resist them?

"I think more or less I’m in a state of mind where I know what I want and I’m not really gonna go out there and play the field. I just want to work hard first and take my time and when I do find someone who takes my fancy then I will pursue her. I’m not the player type who loves to go out."

Not the one-night stand type?

"No, I’m not. I’m not even dating anyone at the moment."

Isn’t it a bit boring?

"Well, it does get a bit boring but I try to make up for it by hanging out with friends."

Do you live alone?

"Oh, yes, I do. A household help comes over to do the household chores."

Where’s your twin brother Greg?

"Oh, he’s back in Australia. He decided to go back about a year ago. He has moved back to his old job – as a nightclub manager. But he has just changed jobs. He’s now working as a security officer for a hotel in Gold Coast (Queensland)."

How long have you been in the Philippines?

"I’ve been here for nearly three and a half years."

Have you blended well into the Philippine milieu?

"You know, I think that any of my friends here can tell you that I have managed to set right into the Filipino way of life. Everyone says that I must have been a Filipino in a previous life. Aside from physically resembling a Filipino, my outlook and my attitude are very Filipino."

Are you also Catholic (many Australians are)?

"My father is Anglican and my mother is Buddhist. I’ve never picked any religion."

Are you an atheist (one who doesn’t believe in the existence of God)?

"I don’t think so. I’m more of an agnostic."

Oh, someone who believes that there can be no proof of the existence of God but does not deny the possibility that God exists.

"Exactly. I believe that there’s a Higher Power. It’s just that I haven’t chosen a religion."

Haven’t you experienced culture shock?

"When I first arrived, I think I did for a short while. The lifestyle here is a far cry from the lifestyle in Australia. But it didn’t take me too long to adjust and to adapt to Filipino life."

Any kinks you encountered during your adjustment period?

"I think basically the things that really shocked me were the coup attempts. You know, those kinds of things don’t happen in Australia. They kind of scared me at the start. But if you weigh them against how welcoming and how friendly and how hospitable Filipinos are, they’re (the ‘shockers’) really nothing. Why I’m still here is because the people have captured me. They’ve won me over."

Aside from Greg, how many other siblings do you have?

"There’s just Greg and me."

What kind of upbringing did you have, conservative or liberal?

"Very typically Australian. In Australia, there’s no distinction between ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal.’ Everyone is pretty much open-minded. That’s just the way of life. We’re brought up in a very decent life. Our parents worked very hard, especially my father who has worked all his life...working so hard as a laborer his whole life. He’s a self-made man who started with nothing. To his credit, everything that our family has... he has worked hard for. Everything that we have came from him and our mother. They built quite a good life for my brother and me. And I give both of them credit for that."

Didn’t the difference in your parents’ religion get in the way of your and Greg’s upbringing?

"Not at all! In fact, you’ll find quite a lot of mixed religions in Australia. It’s a multi-cultural country. There, religion is not a big factor as it is here. That’s one of the first things I noticed when I first came to the Philippines – people are very heavily religious, which is not true in Australia where religion is not such a big deal."

How were you educated?

"We’ve been lucky enough to be in private schools. My entire schooling. We went to the best schools. But I never finished college. Rather than enroll in a four-year college course, I chose to have a vocational education...a more specific area related to what I wanted to do."

What did you want to be?

"Actually, when I was younger I really wanted to be in law enforcement. I almost worked as a bodyguard before I came to the Philippines. Greg was managing a nightclub when I took up my bodyguard and security license."

What brought you here?

"I came on a holiday to visit one of my best friends who was on a holiday here. He’s Canadian. He convinced me to come here. It was my first time to travel alone. I ended up the way he did – being discovered for modeling work. He’s back in Canada now and I’ve stayed. I was basically left on my own. From modeling, I graduated to endorsing products and before I knew it, I was in showbiz."

No regrets having landed in showbiz?

"No regrets, definitely! Actually, I ended up in showbiz because of my brother. I was contented with modeling. When Greg came a year after I arrived, he found modeling pretty hard work. He thought that the better way to make money was to be in showbiz. But when I was introduced to GMA, I was with him and we ended up being signed up together."

Now that you’re in showbiz, what field do you want to concentrate on?

"Hosting. That’s my main focus. Not limited to just TV-hosting but also including hosting events."

Are you comfortable as an actor?

"I’m learning to be even if basically I’m not an actor. I’m quite comfortable doing light comedy (NUTS Entertainment). I’m also happy with my role (as a warrior) in Encantadia where all I do is fight, without anything much to say. Less words, more action. When the story came about, they said, ‘Oh, perfect role for Brad! He can fight, he doesn’t speak Tagalog, so let’s put him in there.’ And there I am."

Aside from showbiz, what would make you stay in the Philippines for good? If you fell in love with a Filipina, would you raise a family here?

"Yeah, why not? That’s one thing that would make me stay. Any matters of the heart would make me stay. But first, I have to find a means to support myself."

What if somebody would help support you?

"Oh, I’d rather not. I don’t want to be a parasite. I want to fend for myself."

Aside from Pops, who among the other Filipino actresses do you find attractive? Somebody you could possibly fall in love with.

You know who’s the only girl I could be in love with? Kristin Kreuk, the girl in the Smallville show. She’s not Filipina, though; I think she’s half-Chinese. In one of her interviews she said she wanted to study Criminology or Environmental Science. What captured me is not only her looks but her intelligence and her desire to help make the world a better place to live in."

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