Melissa Cantiveros

No “Pinoy Big Brother” winner in its entire local franchise history made a circus of a reaction the way Melissa “Melai” Cantiveros did when she was proclaimed champion of the “Double Up” season last Sunday. Melai rode the hype of fame and excitement like wildfire. Even when credits began to roll on PBB’s telecast, she was seen celebrating like crazy on stage.

Her supporters naturally took everything she did as sheer reality so expect the reality trend (Melai-style) to continue long after her 15-minute fame expires. Then again, in an industry as flexible as showbiz where nothing is certain and preferences kiss unpredictability, she has a solid chance what with all her supporters rallying her up and fuelling more of the motor-mouth “Inday Kengkay” to raise her showbiz flag to extreme heights.

For starters, it was revealed in a recent post-PBB Double Up press conference that there are talks of a project pairing her with Ai Ai delas Alas. To this, Melai clarified, “Wala pa po kaming projects.”

But Melai’s now-boyfriend and former housemate Jason Francisco told the media that his girl is excited to give showbiz a big shot. And why shouldn’t she? At the moment, she’s getting dose of mileage in the form of a foreseen rivalry with comedienne Pokwang. The big winner addressed this issue by clearing the air and saying that she hopes she could work with the ABS-CBN comic.

The odds however are not exactly in favor of the new PBB winner. Most ex-PBB champs failed to go further than their title (making the title “PBB” seem like a finish line imposed in most of the seasons). Save for Kim Chiu who went on to conquer teen showbiz-dom along with runner-up Gerald Anderson (and they can really back the claim with much talent that they can do very well even after the love team is long gone), the likes of Nene Tamayo, Beatriz Saw and even Celebrity Edition winner Keana Reeves did not sustain the promise. In the case of second season Teen Edition winner Ejay Falcon, he has yet to carve his spot in the ABS-CBN league of young stars but the clock is ticking.

Jason meanwhile is not that sure if he wanted to go for showbiz. He said he’d rather get into business.

Not scripted

The love affair between Melai and Jason (termed “Melason”) was one their supporters followed and hoped to come true since its offing inside Big Brother’s house. Fans of the Big Winner are happy for her chance at ever after but this has seriously raised doubts among critics and cynics.

The two denied the love story was scripted. “It’s not scripted. We were not asked to portray a love pair,” Melai clarified. “In fact, I was attracted to other housemates prior to that attraction with Jason. It was unexpected.”

She also shared having had seven boyfriends before her current flame. “I’ve had boyfriends before, mostly, the relationships develop from being textmates then they withdraw because I continuously ask for load,” she recalled.

Melai and Jason also expressed that they are having the same conflicts early in their relationship blaming jealousy to be the main cause. “He seems very comfortable kissing girls when we appeared on ‘The Buzz.’” But the Boy Astig of Mindoro defended, “They were fans!” He added that things like that should not have affected his girlfriend who actually cried because of the incident.

And just to further prove that this love is no gimmick, Melai at one point said that if a showbiz career would take toll on their relationship, drop the career.