It’s smart and fair that ABS-CBN decided to release a series that top-bills Markus Paterson after Darna ended (on 10 February), thus putting away his real-life ex-partner Janella Salvador from the limelight.
At some point in the Jane de Leon-starred Darna, Salvador was getting as much attention as De Leon because of the former’s stunning scenes as the
snake-haired monster Valentina whose human character is a feisty lawyer, Regina Valentina.
While Salvador was reaping adulation as Valentina/Regina, showbiz-loving Pinoy netizens did not bother to link her in any way with Paterson. They didn’t needle her about her
co-parenting arrangement with him about their toddler son who stays with Salvador. She was a star on her own in those days.
Paterson’s new series is Teen Clash, slated to air on iWantTFC, a platform of the broadcast-disenfranchised ABS-CBN, starting 17 March. He portrays rock star Jude who’s in a love triangle with female campus singing idol Zoe and struggling songwriter Ice in the same campus.
The singing idol is played by Jayda Avanzado and the songwriter, by Aljon Mendoza. Fans may find it hard to entangle Paterson in a campus romance if he continues to be associated with Salvador.
Publicity and promo for the new series have to focus on the new loveteam of Avanzado and Mendoza who are working together for the first time. Mendoza, a product of the network’s seasonal talent
search-reality show Pinoy Big Brother, used to be paired mostly with PBB batchmate Karina Bautista as they were being built up as a loveteam since 2019.
Markus Paterson
Third wheel
The network seems to have decided to break up the Mendoza-Bautista tandem because it has not sizzled even after almost four years. So, the executives are warming up a Mendoza-Avanzado pairing with Paterson as the third wheel. The network may keep Paterson as the third angle in the tandem for succeeding projects or match him with a suitable leading lady — for as long as he is not linked back to Salvador on a serious scale.
Young star fathers, wed or unwed, do not prosper in Pinoy showbiz as part of a loveteam. Aga Muhlach was 17 years old when he got Janice de Belen pregnant in 1986 when she had yet to turn 18. Aga’s career drifted for many years after that though his being a fine actor eventually carried him through both artistic and commercial success without the support of a loveteam. And he did not get another female pregnant until he married Charlene Gonzales in 2001.
Happily, at the grand media conference for Teen Clash, no one remembered to quiz Paterson about his past with Salvador. The series is about rowdy but non-violent skirmishes between two camps of youth who are into pop music. It has a crowd of a cast, and Paterson was asked about how he managed to relate to a crowd of co-stars, many of whom he was working with for the first time.
Also in the lead cast of Teen Clash are the love team of Andi Abaya and Kobe Brown, Bianca de Vera, Zach Castaneda, Fana Lagueras, Ralph Malibunas, Gail Banawis, and Luke Alford.
Their young lives will turn complicated as they deal with clashing ideals, misfit relationships, unexpected romance, and a whole lot of music that could change their lives.
Teen Clash is directed by Gino M. Santos and produced by iWantTFC and Black Sheep. It streams for free in the Philippines on the iWantTFC app (iOs and Android) and website (iwanttfc.com). A new episode drops every Friday at 8 p.m.
The series began taping in July 2022. Paterson and Salvador have been secretly and quietly separated for months by that time. The separation transpired in the Philippines, not in Somerset, England, where Salvador gave birth in October 2020, nine months after she followed Paterson who had gone back there to live with his parents again.
Football player
Paterson was born in England with a Filipina mother. He was sent to the Philippines to study college and to be a professional football player here. He got to do both for some years, but he got enticed into showbiz and in 2016 joined Pinoy Boy Band Super Star contest on ABS-CBN. He did not win to become a member of the band but stayed on in showbiz which must be for him a more exciting career than being a football player.
In February 2019, Salvador portrayed singer Moira dela Torre in the latter’s life story as featured in Maalaala Mo Kaya,
ABS-CBN’s foremost longest-running drama anthology. Paterson played a former boyfriend of Moira, Timothy, in the episode.
Paterson described their conversations while on set as “awkward,” admitting that as early as then he was already attracted to Salvador.
After the episode aired, Paterson decided to message Salvador to commend her portrayal. For him, it was a convenient excuse to get in touch with her.
Salvador would rarely open her direct messages on social media, she recently recounted in a YouTube interview with her kin and fellow actor Maja Salvador, but somehow, on that night, felt the urge to check her inbox.
“Cute naman,” was Salvador’s playful reason for replying to Paterson’s message.
The exchange led to more communication in the following days and weeks, and eventually, becoming officially a couple to each other but not to the public.
Both Paterson and Salvador are managed by ABS-CBN.
Paterson is as much of an actor now as he is a singer-songwriter. The Fil-Brit already has two albums with Rise, an entertainment company under ABS-CBN Star Music. That means he has the “K” to portray rock idol in Teen Clash.
Salvador’s Darna has been replaced with Coco Martin’s and Lovi Poe’s action-romance series Batang Quiapo.
Since the last telecast of Darna, Salvador has posted on her Instagram several out-of-town holidays with their two-year-old son. There’s no news yet about what she’ll do next for the Kapamilya network. That doesn’t necessarily mean she is not taping or shooting any project now for the company. They might just be waiting for the perfect timing to announce whatever it is. Salvador has dyed her hair ginger as shown in another recent Instagram post. She would have not decided on that for nothing. It could be a camouflage for some stunning role. She’s also good at hiding things about her life and career, remember?
And, oh, good luck to the new Avanzado-Mendoza loveteam for Teen Clash.