Kim tells her story with giggles

Actors do their preparations inside the dressing room before facing the cameras. In Tonight with Boy Abunda (TWBA), the dressing room also serves as the perfect venue to do interviews with guest celebrities.

Recently, Kim Chiu was amused at the idea of doing the one-on-one right inside her dressing room. We called it the Dressing Room Exclusives and true to its title, Kim felt comfortable telling her story with infectious giggles in between.     

At 28, the ABS-CBN actress can be considered as one of the powerful young women in showbiz.

“For me, to be that strong, to be independent, there is something that pushes me forward,” said Kim assuring that family and love life keep her strong as she faces her day-to-day life.

She feels that her mom is continuously guiding her. She recounted her childhood days in Tacloban City with her siblings when dear mom was still alive. “I remember that every Sunday, my mom would treat us. She would buy lechon manok with gabi for all of us five siblings and that’s one of my happiest childhood memories with her.”

Kim believes her mom is always by her side through a butterfly that is often near her sight wherever she goes. “There is always a butterfly in our house, or, when I go to church, a butterfly is right there beside me.”

Her mother is the source of her strength, especially when she is feeling down. Kim said there are moments when she feels like turning her back on showbiz “because there are really people who are hard to please and sometimes there are things you never want to do that add pressure on you.”

Having found genuine friendship with Bela Padilla and Angelica Panganiban somehow makes showbiz life less complicated for Kim. They seldom see each other but when they do, Kim said the fun and laughter seem endless. “It feels like we have only met yesterday. There are times naman na kapag nag-text ang isa, ang haba na ng usapan (laughs).”

Kim finds Angelica brave while Bela is the type who loves peace and quiet “kaya kung may isasama ako sa hell si Angge na ‘yun kasi matapang s’ya tapos sasabihin n’ya kung ano ang gusto n’yang sabihin. And it is Bela whom I will go with to heaven because she’s just quiet and loves nature. She is friends with the trees, she’s like a goddess.”

Everyone knows that right after her stint as one of the housemates of Pinoy Big Brother (PBB), Kim became a regular fixture in the different Kapamilya shows here and abroad, not to mention the movies she starred in that raked in a lot of money.

How rich is she now? I asked.

“Grabe, Tito Boy,” she blurted out before saying, “sakto lang. I never thought that… na makukuha ko ito, na lahat nang gusto ko mabibili ko kaya sobrang thankful talaga ako.”

Even her love life is blooming.

“Xian is doing fine,” she said. “We’ve never seen each other for quite some time because I went to Sydney while he was in Japan shooting for a movie. When Xian shows his sweetness, you’ll definitely melt.”

And while they are in a smooth-sailing relationship, Kim said that marriage is far from happening.

“Hindi rin namin pinag-uusapan. Mayroon pa kaming priorities, marami pang gustong gawin at ang bata pa namin.”