A picture of actor Gerald Anderson looking at actress Barbie Imperial with a certain expression during the Shukran Festival 2023 in Dubai earned buzz among social media users.
The Kapamilya actors went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on December 9 to grace the inaugural festival which aims to give Filipinos in the UAE a platform to show their appreciation to the country in song, dance, entertainment and sports.
Reports said Gerald and Barbie entertained an estimated 5,000 Pinoys who gathered at the Horizon International School for the event, which featured a sports fest, a bazaar and a pop-up service for the Migrant Workers Office, Assistance to Nationals and PhilSys.
The actor participated in a basketball game, while the actress performed a song number at half-time during his game.
Barbie also indulged the crowd in an impromptu fan meet and granted three basketball players a chance to hug her.
Some pictures of the festivities were posted by ABS-CBN’s talent management arm on Facebook on Monday, December 11.
These include a photo of Gerald who appeared to be looking at the actress with a closed-smile expression.
Meanwhile, Barbie was holding the microphone and addressing the crowd.
While the picture was taken candidly, it did not escape the attention of some Pinoys who took to the comments section to share their quips and reactions to the impromptu capture.
“Iba [na naman] tingin ni Gerald Kay Barbie… Good luck, hehehe,” a Facebook user commented.
“Iba ang ngiti ni Gerard (grinning face emojis) Good luck, Barbie. Goodbye, Julia (grinning face emojis),” another user exclaimed.
“Julia, mag-tamang hinala [ka na], kabahan [ka na] din, hahaha,” joked another Pinoy.
“Ngiting may balak,” quipped a different user.
“Ang sweet ng smile mo Gerald, ah,” another Pinoy joked with laughing emojis.
The actor is in a relationship with actress Julia Barretto. It was confirmed in March 2021. Both worked together in the 2019 romance film “Between Maybes.”
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Meanwhile, Barbie sparked dating rumors with actor Tony Labrusca last October when they walked on the ABS-CBN Ball red carpet together.