Award-winning singer Lea Salonga addressed online Filipinos who are shipping her and actor Ian Veneracion in her Twitter question-and-answer spree for her 50th birthday.
Under the hashtag “#AskMissLeaAt50,” Filipinos were given the chance to ask anything to the Broadway star in light of her birthday on February 22.
Some of the questions that Salonga received from Twitter users involve the 46-year-old actor who she was being shipped with for a possible love team.
Asked if she is “aware” of the idea, Salonga responded that she treats Veneracion like her “baby brother” to her.
“Are you aware that some of your fans are shipping you with Ian Veneracion?” Twitter user @RhoseYlreb asked.
“WHAT???? Oh please, no. He’s like my baby brother. Please don’t,” Salonga replied.
Another online user claimed that supporters even celebrate a “LeIan Day” every Wednesday.
“Do you know po ba that LeIan (Lea and Ian V.) shippers exist? And every Wednesday po it’s LeIan day,” Twitter user @DocAbbiee said with accompanying emojis.
There were other similar tweets that asked if Salonga would “consider” working with the actor.
She responded that she has already worked with Veneracion on the youth-oriented variety show “That’s Entertainment” that aired on television from the early ’80s to the ’90s.
“Oh my goodness, we were both in That’s Entertainment together! Same group! He was still a tiny kid but already such a good-looking boy. So we’ve already worked together!” she tweeted.
The Philippine Entertainment Portal earlier reported that Salonga used to be a part of the “Thursday” group while Veneracion was under the “Monday” group.
The variety show, conceptualized by late talent manager and host German “Kuya Germs” Moreno, served as a “launching pad” for some of the biggest names in local showbiz. These include Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, Judy Ann Santos, Billy Crawford, Piolo Pascual, Sunshine Cruz, among several others.
It grouped talents into four groups (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) who performed on an assigned day and then gathered together on Friday.
