-By Nathalie Tomada (The Philippine Star)
MANILA, Philippines - After striking her most sultry pose on the cover of FHM’s January 2012 issue, Ellen Adarna may look the part as one of the country’s sexiest, but she claims she doesn’t feel it.
“Honestly, for me, I don’t find myself sexy,” Ellen says.
The 23-year-old Kapuso artist from Cebu adds, “When I go out, I don’t really care about what I wear. My usual get-up is T-shirt, shorts and slippers. I’m used to the Cebu lifestyle, which is laidback.”
Her idea of sexy is “Victoria’s Secret” and she cites the likes of Lovi Poe (“I love her abs!”), Solenn Heussaff, Cristine Reyes and Sam Pinto as her sexiest women.
“I used to be fat. But from 120 lbs., I trimmed down to my current 98 lbs. through diet and regular exercise,” says Ellen, who goes to the gym almost every day and does Muay Thai and plyometrics as part of her workout regimen.
Ellen entered the showbiz industry in 2010 with a built-in fan base. After all, she was already a cyberspace darling, having gained popularity by virtue of her widely-followed social networking sites.
Actually, Ellen’s story would make a good case study on how to become a celebrity, the Internet way. But that’s another story.
Ellen says that showbiz wasn’t among her future plans — she’s the only daughter of the owner of Cebu’s biggest motel chain — but at that time, she rebelled, ran away from home and decided to find work and support herself. “I’m pasaway!” she admits. She and her parents are okay now, although they still react strongly to her posing for men’s magazines. She has graced the cover of FHM twice; the same with Uno.
Calling to mind her first showbiz assignment which was as the “angelic assistant” in the now-defunct game show Asar Talo, she candidly remarks, “I had to be prim and proper because that was how I was packaged, but eventually, my true self came out, ha ha ha.”
Apart from being very outspoken, she can also be feisty, as seen in her Twitter war with fellow Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles castaway, Arnold Aniñon.
“He told me and (fellow castaway) Angelicopter that we wouldn’t be sikat unless we have a sex tape. Coming from a guy, that’s very (disrespectful),” she says, adding that she won’t take comments like that sitting down.
Meanwhile, as a former member of Survivor’s Tala tribe, she’s rooting for Maey or Betong for the big win.
Asked if she’s open to do daring movies, Ellen says, “I’ve never even had a kissing scene... well, let’s talk about it ’pag magaling na ako mag-acting.”