Aicelle Santos | "I wanna be home, work here and get married."

GMA Artist Center's and our pride too, Aicelle Santos

One of our country's well-known performer, not only here but she's now well-recognized internationally, after having been gone for a year to a series of performances in "Miss Saigon" UK Tour, where she played the iconic role, "Gigi Van Tranin," in the said Cameron Mackintosh's critically acclaimed  musical. 

Aicelle has earned numerous positive feed backs and excellent reviews of her stunning performances. I guess, that really pays off for her, having a solid training here in the Philippines since she's also into stage or musical plays, that really is an advantage for her. She said, "Playing Gigi was a personal, spiritual and professional journey for me. It taught me a lot about myself, as a person and as an actor. I became more disciplined because of our daily show that required physical and mental focus." 

Aicelle during her blogcon just recently

One of the interesting topics we had during Aicelle's blogcon, was about her wedding preparations. If you could remember, Aicelle's long-time boyfriend (now a fiance) Mark Zambrano, had proposed to her two weeks before she left for Miss Saigon UK tour. And as expected, they had survived a long distance relationship for a year, and because of the solid love, faith and loyalty to each other, their relationship prevailed. And according to Aicelle, good thing that in this modern time, we have online platforms like "Facetime," that was very helpful and useful to them, prompting Aicelle to say, "Hindi naging mahirap ang LDR {long term relationship} namin." 

I can now imagine how excited the couple is in preparing for their upcoming union of hearts. Aicelle even shared that, slowly, she's accomplishing things and about to complete her suppliers and other wedding requirements but she trusts her wedding planner/coordinator to do the rest. She also added that, she hopes and dreams of having a an intimate garden or beach wedding, she wants to be in nature. 

"I think I'm the same me, siguro ,natuto lang mag-bikini gabi-gabi, 'yung experience palagi ko ngang sinasabi, it was an equalistic experience for me, it was spiritual, and I think my faith strengthened kasi, you're living alone and there are times that you just ...you can't talk to your friends in the cast kasi they're seriously singing, my home-sick is real, totoo pala s'ya, but you know, those days, parang you remind yourself, why you're doing it, you have your crafts ganyan ...I just lifted it all up to Him. Spiritual talaga 'yung experience for me. 'Yun nga, eight show a week, na-training ka n'ya, iba 'yun, iba 'yung time nila dun, very punctual sila... so discipline is also one thing." Those are only some of the take-aways and learnings that Aicelle had during her stay there. 

Now that she's back home, what could we expect or what do have to look forward to in terms of her career?

The Kapuso singer/actress shared that, she'll be participating in Ballet Philippines' 2019 restaging of the 1977 pop rock opera ballet, "Tales of the Manuvu," which showcases the folk tales of the Manobo tribe in Mindanao. She'll be performing on March 30 and 31 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Pasay City. 

She is also set to make her TV comeback this April as a regular host of GMA's musical-variety show, Studio 7. Apart from these, fans can  once again catch her reprise her role as "Elsa" in the re-run of "Himala Isang Musikal. 

Asked what she's looking forward to, the Kapuso star said, "To creating new music and marrying the man I love." 

Aicelle remains so grounded and full of gratitude, inspite her overflowing love, success and blessings. Her new mantra is, "To live in the moment and to embrace the life that is unfolding right in front of you. I am more grateful than ever to everyone who continues to support me and to the Lord who guided me through this path." 

Special thanks to Sapporo Noodles, Dentiste and Aficionado perfumes.