Life After MTV

At home with Donita Rose

Jocelyn Valle
Inquirer News Service

(PINAY ex-veejay and actress Donita Rose's Modess commercials are currently airing in Thailand and China. She recently shot a new Dimetapp commercial here in Manila with her son JP. MTV also recently gave her a tribute and invited her to do special episodes of Pop Inc -- to be aired all over Asia. She started taping on Monday, Aug. 1. Inquirer Entertainment visited her in Singapore, where she is based.)

"OH, it's just breaded chicken, nothing special," says Donita Rose as she ushers us into the kitchen of the condo unit in Singapore that she shares with husband Eric Villarama and their firstborn.

Joshua Paul turned one last month.

"I just went for something simple," she explains, carefully setting a piece of the chicken on a bed of mashed potatoes. But the way Donita sets the table makes a simple meal like a fine-dining experience. She even dons a blue-and-beige apron with matching toque.

Donita, whose effervescent personality has made her one of MTV's best-known VJs and the cutest Time magazine cover girl ever, is also the perfect host.

"When I'm here, I'm not really working so I devote my time to my family," she shares. "I spend most of my time at home with JP. I start preparing at about 4 o'clock for dinner—you know, groceries. I can't stock up too much in the fridge. It's too small. I also fix the house."

The Philippines is Donita's career hub. She regularly flies in for acting and hosting gigs.

"The longest I've been away is three-and-a-half weeks. I want [my husband] to miss me more. Sometimes he says, 'Sweetheart, I miss your cooking.' I like hearing that, so I always do my best," she says.

"You want some music?" Eric chimes in from the study room where husband and wife have separate working spaces.

"I can cook anything," Donita declares. "I used to invite my friends like Ruffa (Gutierrez), Sharmaine (Arnaiz) and Alma (Concepcion) to my house in Manila. On my sixth month [of pregnancy] I stopped working. That's when I started experimenting in the kitchen.

"Lately, though, I've been cooking mainly South Beach stuff. I did South Beach diet for 10 straight days and after that cheat-cheat na ako. After I gave birth, I was almost 80 kg. Now, I'm like 58, 59 kg. My original weight was 54 kg."

The doting wife and mom loves to share stories about her family, too. She relates that JP likes to dance, and loves attention. He has her fingers, toes, ears, forehead, nose and lips, says Donita. "Everything else, like the hair, eyes, eyebrows and lean body type, he got from Eric."

Donita and Eric are committed Born-Again Christians. While they were still dating, they recounted, they put off kissing until they tied the knot on June 9, 2003 in California. Now they attend Bible study Wednesday evenings, and Tuesday is their date night.

Eric works full-time for Thumbs Up, a non-profit organization that helps the youth to discover themselves and reach for their goals. He is in the process of putting up his own graphics design company.

Donita is the spokesperson for Thumbs Up.

"I don't like clutter," she confesses as she gives a tour of the spotless condo unit. "Almost everything here is from Ikea. We're the second tenants here. We repainted the walls and changed the lighting."

Donita's favorite things in the house are her comforter, the couch and the beanbags where she and Eric station themselves when they play X-Box. "To illustrate how clean we are—before we go on the couch or play X Box or anything, we take a shower first. This is our sanctuary," she says.

"Clean" is the operative word when describing Villaramas' residence. Even in the storage room, things are neatly kept and labeled in boxes. True to her minimalist approach to style these days, Donita's wardrobe is a medium-sized closet with three partitions, which she even shares with Eric!

Her shoes—all sneakers—are in a low cabinet near the front door. All her pumps and flats are in her pad in Manila.

"I'm sick and tired of bringing my suitcase back and forth, so I just leave all my nice clothes [in Manila]," she says.

Now 30 but still youthful, the Fil-Am actress-host admits that she wants to be perceived as a little more serious these days, so she's trying to look a little more sophisticated. "When I look at my stuff before, I take a step back. When punk was the rage, I was punk from head to toe. Now, maybe the eyeliner and the belt na lang."

Shopping? She's no longer brand-conscious. "When I walk into Prada, I think of my child's college education. All the stuff that I acquired during my MTV days are still usable, so I don't feel like I need so much. I don't have a problem with carrying around a two-year-old Gucci bag."

She loves to shop in Hong Kong during the sale season. In the States, she checks out the shops at Melrose Place. "Not Rodeo Drive," she says, "though I did use to shop there."