With tears cascading on her cheeks, not the first in a more than three-hour finale press conference for the hit afternoon series, Kadenang Ginto, Beauty Gonzalez asked her co-stars Dimples Romana, Kyle Echarri, Francine Diaz, Seth Fedelin, and Andrea Brilliantes, and the rest of the supporting cast to stand up and take a bow.
“Kadenang Ginto wouldn’t reach 16 months on air and become this successful if not for your support,” the actress who plays Romina Mondragon in the afternoon drama told the press and the members of the blogging community.
“We owe it to you and to our viewers who continuously give us reason to be better at our craft. We hit our all-time high ratings and became a trending topic on social media because of you,” she carried on.
With its massive success, Kadenang Ginto has even gone international as it is currently airing in Myanmar and has also earned an Indonesian adaptation (Putri Mahkota, currently airing on ANTV).
Throughout its 16-month run, the series has dished out catfights that trended on social media introduced multiple memes such as “Cassie, hindi ka muna papasok sa school,” and the red luggage meme featuring Dimples that went to different parts of the globe, including the outer space.
The series also spawned the hit teen quartet The Gold Squad, composed by stars Andrea, Francine, Seth, and Kyle, who have recently launched their first digital movies on iWant and now being followed by their 1.8 million subscribers on their official YouTube channel.
Now, as the screen fades out to black on the Kadenang Ginto, with pain and revenge as their motivation, the four Mondragons are preparing for the biggest war of their lives in the final week of the top-rating series.
Daniela (Dimples), still harboring on the idea that Romina (Beauty) took everything away from her, has become vindictive than ever after her husband Carlos (Adrian Alandy) died in her arms for defending her mortal enemy.
While Daniela is cooking up her plans, Romina is determined to prove that Daniela is the mastermind behind the threats against her and her family. However, with the menacing Hector (Joko Diaz) still scheming behind bars and a spy still in their midst, Romina will have to fight tooth and nail to put a stop to her enemies.
Meanwhile, Cassie (Francine) is still in hiding to continue the charade of being dead, and Marga (Andrea)—twisted by her mother’s manipulations—has rejoined Daniela’s side and blames Romina for the death of her father. She will take matters into her own hands as she suspects that Cassie’s death was fake.
What plans does Daniela have under her sleeve, and what are Romina’s final moves? Will Cassie and Marga remain enemies until the end? Find out this Friday.
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Ruffa’s tea
Long-time fans of actress and reality TV star, Ruffa Gutierrez, will have something sweet and delightful to look forward to.
The statuesque former beauty queen, who is best known for her charismatic appeal and wit on their family’s reality TV show It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez is trying her hand at franchising and she is launching her line of milk tea stores in the coming weeks.
“This is truly a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to open up a business and have something with my brand on it. Finally, all the stars aligned and I found a good partner who is willing to execute my vision. The fact that it is about milk tea, which my children absolutely love, just makes it all the more special,” Ruffa said.
Ruffa who is soon appearing in ABS-CBN’s primetime drama Love Thy Woman partnered with startup franchising incubator Renegade Branding Concepts to create her business. The company is also helping other celebrities realize their dreams of opening up their businesses, including world boxing icon, Manny Pacquiao, Sunshine Cruz, and David Licauco, to name a few.
The actress said she feels tremendous support from friends, family and the public.
“My family is quite supportive of my new venture and they even helped me come up with the name, and they gave comments on the design. It was a family affair.”
“I got even more excited when I learned that even before the unveiling of my first store, there had been a lot of inquiries about it. People are interested to franchise it, and now we have over four kiosks, and 45 licensees and operators,” Ruffa admits.
Ruffa likewise reveals that she is putting a sustainable twist to her business by encouraging consumers to use reusable straws every time they buy a cup.
“I draw a lot of inspiration from my children and they always ask me to think of the environment. That is why we are observing sustainable practices in our milk tea business. I am so happy to share all of these details during our launch which will happen in the next few weeks,” she adds.
Renegade Branding Concepts Founder and CEO Robbie Antonio believes the new concept will be embraced by the public.
“We are very happy to partner with Ruffa on her milk tea business. Everyone knows that she only supports products and brands she believes in, so everyone will realize that this new business concept is something they can support,” Antonio said.
Antonio is one of the leading branding personalities in the world. He has partnered with some of the biggest brands in the world including Versace Home, Armani Casa, yoo by Philippe Starck, Missoni, and Trump Organization, to name a few. He has also worked with influential global celebrities like the late architect Zaha Hadid, I. M. Pei, Lenny Kravitz, British fashion designer Ozwald Boateng, and Paris Hilton.
The Milk Tea Shop by Ruffa has branches in Makati, Quezon City, Pampanga, and Pangasinan.