Tweetie de Leon: Would you believe she's 45?
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| Tweetie de Leon became a household name when she took on the role of Faye, the enkantada wife of Enteng Kabisote, played by Vic Sotto |
Growing up as a dark-skinned Filipina, I often wondered why
I was being bullied and teased for my morena complexion when, in fact, we are
all Filipinos who understandably have brown skin. And then I came to know about
Tweetie de Leon. A commercial and ramp model, TV personality, hall-of-famer in
“Most Beautiful” lists, and most importantly (for me at least), a morena and
proud Filipina. Now a blissful mom, wife, businesswoman (and still a model),
the balance she has been able to achieve in her life is a dream made real. Here
are 10 things you should know about Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez.
1. She is a
self-confessed nerd turned sports buff turned Philosophy major turned
supermodel.
“I was very grade conscious, I studied hard, I enjoyed
learning,” Tweetie says of her elementary days at the College of the Holy
Spirit. Upon entering high school in St.
Paul QC, sports took
a big role in her life and every free time she had was spent playing
volleyball. She went to UP for college and she shares: “I thought I wanted to
follow in my mother’s footsteps and be a doctor. Philosophy was interesting for
me because I’m genuinely interested in people and I’m more of a listener than a
talker.” That was until she started to become more active in modeling and
realized she was meant for something else.
2. She had no plans
of acting, but the producers of Okay Ka, Fairy Ko were persistent enough to get
her to try it out. What Tweetie said she would do for a few episodes, she ended
up doing for six years.
One of Tweetie’s friends had a brother who was a talent
agent. He decided to take photos of her one afternoon when she and her friends
were just hanging out, and these photos landed her her first TV commercial for
Royal Tru Orange at the age of 14. She went on to do more VTRs, got some
rejections, got some projects, all while she was still in school. She
eventually became a ramp model, and some of the first designers she walked for
were Louie Mamengo, Larry Silva, and Christian Espiritu.
Tweetie became a household name when she took on the role of
Faye, the enkantada wife of Enteng Kabisote, played by Vic Sotto. “My mom had a
private landline beside her bed, I got a call there from Tony Tuviera,” she
recalls. She politely declined the offer but still got calls from their office
nonstop. She admits having felt very awkward during the first few taping days
but says that the group made her feel like family. “We had a mom, we had a baby
–– we were a motley crew that got along so well. We had long hours mainly
because we were laughing all the time, but then even if it’s a sitcom, when it
came to buckling down to work, everyone delivered.”
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3. On dealing with
suitors growing up: “I hardly had any, promise! I was not not ligawin.”
She says it was her eldest sister Lilith who had many
suitors and received flowers all the time, while she hardly got that. “I
received a set of jack stones when I was in Grade 2, but what was that, you know,”
she laughs. She was a Senior in high school when she realized someone was
interested, but her first relationship came in college. “I really had just one
serious boyfriend before I got married. It lasted for eight years –– now you
know why there was just one,” she reveals. “I would say I was a late bloomer.”
When asked if Bossing Vic ever tried to court her: “No, no,
sorry to disappoint. I’m offended that he didn’t,” she jokingly laughs out
loud. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” She goes on to say that when she started
working on TV, Vic was the one who reassured her that she would be safe from
whatever sticky showbiz situation might come while she was in the environment
of the show.
4. Tweetie de
Leon-Gonzalez in numbers:
5,000: Pesos she got as talent fee for her first ever TV
commercial.
2: hours a day she works out. “Three times a week I play
squash, other days I go to the gym and run, Sundays, I rest.”
7: Hours of sleep a night. “For me everything is solved by
sleeping!”
4: Glasses of water she can drink in one meal. “I get very
thirsty easily, and nothing can quench my thirst other than water.”
100+: Number of magazine covers she has done in the 30 years
she has been modeling.
5. Tweetie admits to
being a “pleaser” who “hates offending anybody.” But she has done “crazy”
things in her younger years, the worst of which was driving intoxicated –– if
that had ended in an accident, she wouldn’t have come out of it alive.
“It’s not something I would laugh about, even in hindsight.
That’s what woke me up from the crazy days,” she says of the time she was fresh
out of a long-term relationship. Prior to this, she never really liked going
out. She had come from a night out with friends in Makati
and was driving home to Quezon City,
overspeeding, overtaking, weaving in and out of lanes, until she caught herself
in a bad situation. Tweetie recalls that she couldn’t slam on the brakes or
else she would turn-turtle, she couldn’t change lane because there were cars
approaching, she just prayed out loud, and miraculously made it out safe. She
remembers driving at 40 kph. from that point on, with her whole body shaking.
When she got home, she saw a car waiting by the front of her house, that she
was sure she saw leave the bar the same time as her. As she was by the front
door, the car sped off. I asked if she knew who it was. “Yes,” she pauses still
in disbelief, “it was Mon.”
She and her now-husband Mon were dating when he had invited
her to his house for lunch. She recognized one of the cars parked and asked Mon
if he was the one that night at her house. He said that it was him, and tells
her to never drink and drive like that again. “At that time, we weren’t even
going out yet. He is an angel to me in many ways.”
6. Tweetie and Mon
got married ten months after they started dating. He proposed to her just one
month prior to the wedding.
They knew each other years back but never really paid
attention to one another. “I thought he was another snooty mestizo,” she jokes.
They met again when Tweetie was 27 years old and she reveals that just after
two months of dating, Mon was already talking about marriage plans. She didn’t
take it seriously at that time, but then a few months after, he actually
started to make arrangements with the church and the suppliers. She shares:
“Friends would congratulate me; I said why, they said ‘I heard you’re getting
married’, I said ‘to whom’, they said, ‘Mon said!’” When I asked her the reason
she didn’t ask him why he hasn’t formally proposed, she says: “Our relationship
was really different. It was a very, very light relationship. Nothing about it
felt wrong or heavy, I was just going with the flow. I didn’t even have to say
yes.” But sure enough, the proposal did come. Everything was in place for the wedding,
he took her to a nice dinner then to a special area at a hotel lounge, and
popped the question. “He was just too cute, he was still so nervous about
giving me the ring even if he knew it was a yes! He even lost it!”
They have been together for 17 years now with four children:
Sabina, 15, Lorenzo, 14, Nicolas, 12, and Alfonso, 7. Tweetie says that she and
Mon have a good balance, with her kids commenting, “You’re strict mom when it
comes to school and manners, dad is strict about going out and playing computer
games.”
7. On the biggest
difference between models then and now: “We were self-sustaining models. We
were trained to troubleshoot, all faculties are covered by the models.”
“We didn’t have stylists, we didn’t solely rely on make up
artists, we didn’t rely on sponsors for shoes or accessories, we come to work
carrying our model’s bag with everything in it,” she explains. They were
trained to do their own hair and makeup, to have everything they need with
them, and being late was never an option. More than that, they had their roots
colored, threading done for eyebrows and upper lip, nails done, even before
they head to work. On the other hand, she says models today are provided with
stylists, nail technicians, and a complete team to prep them for a shoot. “You
just need to wake up, shower, and show up,” she says. “It also shows that the
industry is maturing in many ways.”
8. Tweetie’s top
beauty tips:
1. Sunblock: “That’s across the board no matter what age you
are!” She also recommends Retinol-based products for older women.
2. Water: “I’m big on water. It solves all problems,
honestly, and it clears your skin.”
3. Stay happy: “Keep it simple, keep it real, keep happy.
Nothing else can make you look more radiant than when you’re feeling good about
yourself, than when you’re happy from within. It doesn’t matter how old you
are.” When people asked her why she revealed her age in her TV commercial for Ponds,
she says there is no reason to hide it. “I feel I look and live a better life
now!”
9. After giving birth
to four children, Tweetie maintains an admirably fit physique through three
things: “Quantity and quality of food intake, cardiovascular activities, and
strengthening exercises.”
1. She has never indulged in fad diets. “It will rebound in
some way,” she warns. “I also give in to treats. I don’t want to deprive
myself!” She shares that the balance is in the exercise and that your food
intake must be commensurate to your exercise. “It really needs to be a
lifestyle,” she advises.
2. Sports are a big part of her life and she tries to learn
a new sport regularly to keep the challenge up. Aside from squash, she has
gotten into cycling, running, scuba diving, boxing, kickboxing, yoga, and
taebo.
3. She strongly believes people should realize that the goal
is not to lose weight, but to keep fit and healthy. “Being thing doesn’t mean
you’re healthy and you look good.” She says that to lose the pounds and the
inches, it has to be a combination of a balanced diet, cardio, and
strengthening work outs.
10 . Despite having a
lucrative modeling career and accessories business, at 45, Tweetie says she
sees herself slowly loosening the reins on those, and spending more time with
family.
“Not that I’m not enjoying myself, I’m enjoying myself
immensely! But I’d like to be able to have a free hand in doing what I have to
do at a given time,” Tweetie reveals. Throughout the interview, she shares how
much she is enjoying her kids right now, and how she feels bad that school is
starting again which means they’ll be busier. “I say to myself I’ve been
working since I was 14, then I find myself thinking more and more about home,
family, and the future of my kids.”
We all have people we look up to, and those who are close to me know
that I call Tweetie my “life peg.” It was a dream come true to be able to do
this interview with a woman I admire for how she handles herself, what she has
made of her life, and how she cares for her family. I asked her if its true
that you are happier when you are 40 than when you are 30, or 20. “Definitely,”
she says. “You understand yourself better, you’re more secure, you look more
introspectively than trying to measure up to other people. And by that time,
you have a husband, you have your kids, they validate your person, your
character, and your existence, really.” While some dislike the thought of
growing older, with Tweetie’s words in mind, I actually cannot wait to turn 30.
Or 40, for that matter.
