ere's another celebrity who doesn't believe in the showbiz saying that bad publicity is still publicity and that it benefits the person involved.

This is in reaction to what was written about Iya Villania's alleged smooching incidents with one, Drew Arellano, at the Fort which reportedly even stopped motorists; and two, with an ABS-CBN bigwig!

"It's false reporting and it's bad publicity because it's ruining my name and wholesome image. I don't know whether there are artistas who would appreciate that kind of publicity not unless they were asking ‘gawan mo naman ako ng issue' which is not my case," Iya lamented.

She recalled that the only time she and Drew were at Embassy at The Fort was for a hosting job for Close-Up. She also stressed that her mom's with them that time, making it more impossible for the alleged torrid-kissing incident to happen.

"That mean, it would have happened right in front of my mom! And I wouldn't do that even in front of other people," she stressed. She described that both she and Drew are very affectionate with each other but she won't dare smooch in public.

Regarding the alleged kissing-incident with an ABS-CBN executive that was reported to have happened in Shangri-La Resort in Mactan, Cebu, she defended herself saying that she was in Australia that time, which, again, makes that rumor impossible.

"I find everything very funny... normally I wouldn't defend myself. I'm just lucky I have a wholesome image so I guess people won't easily believe it was me... I was given the opportunity to defend myself on TV so I explained myself," she shared.

She couldn't understand too that after an apology was sent through SMS by the writer involved, she was written about negatively again a few days ago.

"Why apologize if she'll bite back at me like that. If it's a waste of column space, it's her space that she's wasting... I'd say that it was a waste of column space because it was a silly issue, right? If she's going to mention my name and say it was a mistake, why would she mention my name at all," shrugged Iya.

It's a good thing then that Iya has kept a wholesome image from the time she started in local showbiz. And no matter what, the rumors didn't affect her status as a celebrity endorser.

Commented Hennie Co, Marketing Manager of Cosmetique Asia, the makers of Silka Papaya for which Iya has been an image model for two years now:

"What is important for us is how she handles these intrigues. We know it's part of show business and we can see that she's handling them well so it doesn't affect our relationship. We got her because we believe she's a good role model for the youth. She has her own personality which is really unwavering. Everyone can see that she's a good role model... we want her image for our product that's why we chose her."

Cosmetique Asia, which has been in the business for five years now, have used celebrities as their image models. John Lloyd Cruz was their first in 2003, then came Sitti and Iya Villania in 2004 and loveteam Joross Gamboa and Roxanne Guinoo last year. Among the celebrities, it was Iya who has consistently remained their celebrity endorser as they relaunched Silka's lotion in its new packaging which was also in line with their latest product, Juicy Cologne.

"You just don't stick a person to a product. It should be someone whose image would be perfect with our wholesome products and we're lucky we have Iya," Hennie added.

At the moment Iya's still busy with Studio 23's "MYX," "Us Girls" and "ASAP." She's also waiting for the second season of "You Can Dance" to start. And if you don't see her in a soap opera or in an upcoming film, it's because of her schooling. She's a junior Psychology student at De La Salle University.

But will we see her soon on the cover of a men's magazine?

She said no and just laughed it off.

* * *

ABS-CBN must be happy with the ratings performance of its weekend showbiz talk show, The Buzz, which has been winning on the average over GMA's S-Files for the past three months.

The average lead of The Buzz over S-Files is only a little more than one point per month. It's a very tight contest indeed, which could swing either way at any given week. But what has kept the S-Files almost consistently at bay and what's The Buzz' secret to success in recent months? The answer can be found in the data we got hold of on cable and non-cable ratings. For the past three months, The Buzz posted an average lead of about eight points over S-Files on cable ratings. Among non-cable homes, S-Files had the edge, but only by more than a point on the average.

The Buzz even led by 12.6 points over S-Files on July 30, by 11.6 points on August 13, and by 9.4 points on August 27 and September 17.

What makes cable viewers, specifically subscribers of the Lopez-owned Sky and Home Cable, prefer The Buzz over S-Files that caused it to lead by a wide margin? Maybe, ratings supplier AGB Nielsen can provide the answers.

Until then, questions will remain.

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