Piolo Pascual
The gorgeous Piolo Pascual is a great example of immense success in local showbiz. Not only is he an award-winning actor, piolo is also a singer and a model, one of the highest-paid in the industry. Born on January 12, 1977, Piolo is an exotic mix of German, American, Spanish and Filipino parentage. He first honed his acting skills onstage for the Teatro Tomasino, the student theatrical group of the University of Santo Tomas. His earliest TV stint was in the educational show ATBP and That’s Entertainment. His biggest break in TV came with his role in the primetime series Sa Sandaling Kailangan Mo Ako, where he received a nomination for Best Drama Actor at the Asian TV Awards. Meanwhile, Piolo’s cinema break was for his role in Lagarista, where he received a Gawad Urian nomination for Best Actor.
In 2002, Piolo took on the role of Jules Bartolome in the Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon starrer, Dekada 70. This proved to be Piolo’s greatest moment, for he won not one, but eight awards in the Best Supporting Actor category from all the existing award-giving bodies, including the Urian. Piolo achieved a grand slam – a feat usually reserved for older, more established actors in the industry.
Piolo didn’t rest on his laurels. He went on to establish a recording career, and got a Platinum award for his self-titled album. He went on to star in more movies, including Milan, opposite Claudine Barretto. It will prove to be one of the most critically-acclaimed movies of 2004. Piolo also held a major solo concert at the Araneta Coliseum, which proved to be a hit as well.
He is currently an endorser of Bench, which added more billboards of his image to his already existing ones. Many consider him as the country’s sexiest man. He is a single father to his 11-year old son Inigo.
Piolo Pascual Gay Controversies
Piolo faced the biggest hurdle of his career when he was rumored to be involved in a sex scandal several years earlier. A video circulated on the Internet featuring a man who was supposedly Piolo Pascual having sex with another man. This caused a furor over the actor’s sex orientation, and many industry insiders claimed that Piolo is actually gay. The actor never confirmed that he was the man in the video.
This was further fueled by malicious souls who circulated, through the internet, photos and another popular and equally good looking actor, Sam Milby supposedly holding hands. It was later proven that the photo was a product of brilliant photo editing skills. The source of the photo actually shows the two apart from one another and never even touching hands.
This controversy regarding his sexuality would not seem to end. In early 2007, another rumor rocked the actor’s career. Talent manager Lolit Solis claimed that a reputable source saw Piolo and actor Sam Milby together in a hotel, supposedly in a lovers’ tryst. The rumor triggered a lawsuit from Piolo and Sam, which they later withdrew when Lolit apologized for spreading an unsubstantiated rumor.