ooking at astonishingly beautiful and hot 23-year old Regina Carla Peralejo makes us wonder how the former teen star can host, put up her own business, have comedic timing, sing, and literally fly-in grand dance production numbers, that is. Then there's the films she starred in, which practically catapulted her into woman of our dreams stature. Not that she needs all these, really, this girl's got talent, and as you will probably notice, an innate charm we can't seem to shake off. It's not everyday one gets to talk to Rica about soap, school, stalkers and the single life (oh yes, she is single… now let's keep that a secret between us, shall we?). Sadly, we had so little time to enjoy it. But we don't mind—we've got her frozen in time right here. Today, we're all flying. Let Rica guide you up the clouds as she shows us what “gracing the pages” really mean.

How've you been lately?
A little busy, it's not only purely work. I've been going to school.

Are you in college right now?
No, I'm talking tutorials so I can take the PEP test, and then after the PEP test, that' s when I go to college, which will probably be next year.

Were do you plan to go to college?
Not sure yet, but most probably, I really want to go to UP, because it's near my house.

What are you currently working on?
I'm doing 3 shows. “ASAP,” Ek Channel” – it's a hosting job – and then “Ok Fine, Whatever,” a comedy show. I'm also going to start working on a movie soon. Oh yeah, and I'm very busy with my calamansi whitening soap called “Rica's Deepest Secret.” We're kinda busy with that because we're just starting to promote it.

I might be wrong on this, but I heard you're single?
You're not wrong (laughs). You're pretty accurate.

Any suitors?
I'm not really entertaining suitors as of now. There are many making parinig and all that stuff. And whenever I got out, people would try to get my number. But I'm not ready. I'm not ready to be exposed like that again, and you know, to have another boyfriend.

How can the ordinary guy make you change your mind about that?
It's hard to say. If I say that now, eh di everyone will just be doing that, and then hindi ko na alam kung sino yung worth it, diba? Everything that comes my way, I accept it as part of my life, and who I'm supposed to be, and how that's going to make me in the future. It's part of the “big scheme” of life. And I don't have rules and regulations because I might break them in the future. Like, if I tell everyone right now that I want somebody who's sweet and someone who has a good body, and then later on you'll find me marrying someone na may bilbil, diba? So hindi mo talaga masasabi, haha! If we're meant to be, we're meant to be. If not, sorry na lang.

So, there's shop for a bloke with bilbil and love handles?
Well, hindi naman requirement, but I cannot imagine myself being with someone who has a lot of love handles. (laughter)

Do you dress sexy in normal life like the character in your sitcom “Ok, Fine, Whatever?”
It depends. There are days that I really want to dress sexy and there are days when I don't. But the kind of sexy that I'm talking about is not yung nakalabas na lahat-lahat about you. It's not the slutty type. I just want to be the fashionista for the night. Rather than calling me a bombshell—big boobs, big butt, or just looking at my boobs and butt the whole night—I'd want them to say when they see me that ‘Uy galing pa lang pumorma nito.” Sense of style rather than the body.

What's the sexiest thing you've worn in your bedroom?
I think it would be my breathe-cut panties. That's probably it with a white baby tee.

How about outside the bedroom?
Sexiest? How about naked? (Laughs) like before when I'll be doing my love scenes, I won't be wearing anything. And that's outside of my bedroom!

That's cool to know! Haha! Do you sleep-walk?
No, but I really get bad dreams. There are times almost every night, that people that I'm going to be sleeping with—like my mom or my sister—they try to wake me up kasi umiiyak na naman ako or I'm fighting with someone in my dreams again. But I don't sleepwalk.

Have you gone used to seeing your body onscreen and on internet websites?
Well. I really don't go to those websites wherein they make baboy your pictures. So I really don't get upset with that, kasi hindi ko naman nakikita. But on the screen, like movies or pictures, I'm used to that. And I'm kinda enjoying it, because I know that when I'm 40, my skin it's not gonna be the same. It's always gonna look a lot older and some places, some areas are gonna sag already. So, nae-enjoy ko na siya ngayon, habang bata pa ako.

Do people still talk to you about that lesbian kissing in one of your movies?
Well, it used to be really controversial. But after the movie, it died down. Hello, if you see the movie, it's not even bastos. It's just really part of the story. It's not as if I fell in love with Maui [ Taylor ], or she fell in love with me, or we felt something while doing that scene.

But would you ever kiss another girl in your lifetime?
In real life? On-screen, probably. Because, you know, there are a lot of good roles. Lesbian roles, they're very, very challenging for an actress like me. So ok lang onscreen. Pero offscreen, Diyos ko… Walang taong nagsasalita ng tapos, pero magsasalita ako ng tapos. I will never kiss a girl. Please... in real life? (laughs).

What books are you into?
The last book I read was, “The Da Vinci Code,” The one of Simon Cox, the one that explains. “The DaVinci Code,” that was the next. But I didn't get to finish that. I just browsed through it. I'm planning to read “The Little Prince” and “The Rule of Thor”. And I'm reading this Alcoholics Anonymous book for friends and relatives (snickers).

How did it feel like participating in a lingerie fashion show (Understatement) at the Araneta Coliseum?
I was quite nervous about that because I have never, ever done a fashion show in my whole life. So that was a first. Plus the fact that I had to go out in my undies, which I don't ever do inside my house (laughs). But at the same time, it was enjoyable because I was with Alessandra [de Rossi], Ate Lucy [Torres-Gomez], and they were very, very nice and supportive. Also, Geneva [Cruz] was very supportive! They all made me feel calm all throughout the show. Shopping din ako ng magagandang katawan ng mga guys, haha! Wala naman akong nabili. Window-shop lang.

Do you collect underwear?
I used to. I shop a lot when I'm out of the country because I don't shop here. I like the stuff they sell there kasi alam ko na halos wala dito. But there was this incident two trips ago when I was in San Diego , I found out when I opened my luggage that the reason it was so heavy was that it was half-filled with panties and bras! So let's say I spend about $1,000--$500 of it went to undies. So I said to myself, “Stop, Rica, stop. I don't think you'll need much of those undies the rest of your life anyway. You can just keep on repeating them and nobody will know (laughs).” I stopped! I really got shocked with myself, kasi I had like, one style, five colors of that, all colors of this. Hay naku. I'm telling you, naubos pera ko diyan sa undies na yan.

At least my ipapamana ka.
Oh, God. I will never make pamana somebody undies. It's a personal as your eyeballs (laughs).

What do you prefer, thongs or regular panties?
Regular. I hate thongs, although there's one certain thong that I bought in Victoria 's Secret that I like very much because it doesn't hurt. Because when you have variety shows, because I'm a dancer and all, I have to hide the panty lines. Every time I go home it hurts, it's like I have something up my ass. That's the reason why I don't like thongs.

What's the best rumor you've heard about yourself?
That I'm a good girlfriend (laughs).

That's a rumor?
No, I'm really. That's not a rumor, (laughs) What's the best? Probably the one when they, accused me of smoking marijuana inside my dressing room.

Oh, I didn't hear about that.
It was a long time ago during my teeny-bopper days. They accused me of smoking marijuana in the dressing room and that made me laugh big time. Am I that stupid? I will not deny that I have tried marijuana, but for me to smoke it in the dressing room with some other people? Ang tanga ko naman siguro if I tried that.

Do you have a stalker?
Lots. Because if you are a movie star or if you work in television people will—and I'm not saying I'm that famous and all—but if they see you constantly on TV, some people will identify with you. Yung mga stalkers ko ganun, yung mga naa-identify nila yung mom nila in me, or their girlfriend, and eventually they'd want to marry me. So they keep on sending their letters, their gifts.

What was the most terrifying thing a stalker did to you?
I guested on a show, and outside the network's building he was there and I didn't even know. He came from the States lang yata then. He gave me this one whole album of pictures—of him in the States—and a letter which said that his [the stalker's] relatives wanted me to stay, but he didn't anymore because he knew I missed him already. Something to that effect. It was kind of freaky na kasi nagpapadala na siya, yung mga may snow sa loob, those glass thingies. Pinadalhan niya ako na merong married couple inside, tapos kami raw yun. Oh, my goodness, I'm telling you. And he had names of our “kids.” He had like 12 [names for our] kids. Hinahalo niya yung name ko tsaka name niya. I'm telling you: freaky. Kala niya talaga we have 12 kids.

But you're safe from him now?
Yeah. They can't pretty much do anything, except if, let's say, they snap. Tapos nandiyan ka lang and they can grab you. I mean, those things, you just have to let go of because you'll end up thinking about it the whole day, and you'll end up not doing anything. What, you'll just stay in the house?

That's true. If I tickled you now where should I press to drive you crazy?
Good question. I don't remember. Nobody's been tickling me for some time now. I think it would be..my knees? My knees and here. On the sides.

What do you prefer on a man, boxers or tighty-whities?
Boxers. Because I always have this thinking of a sexy ass. The more you try to hide it, the sexier it looks. When you wear briefs I can see everything, more or less. But if you were boxers, it just looks so clean, especially white boxers, and you're just gonna keep on wondering what's inside of those boxers… until you get to find out (snickers).

What part of a guy's body do you look at?
Abs. If he's got pandesals. God, he's got a big chance with me.

One thing leads to another—It is the size of the ship or the motion of the ocean.
(Laughter) You know? It's what you feel. It's not really any of those. I'm not really that experienced yet, but whatever that I know, from what I've experienced, it's always what I feel. ‘Casuse I'm not the one who's going to go for the size or the motion. I don't care if you're a 12, but if I don't love you, then it won't mean a thing. I'm a sucker for love, sorry (laughs). I'm a hopeless romantic.

Have you ever gone skinny-dipping?
No. I was about to try that, but then I fell asleep because I was so drunk. I was going to try it just to see how it feels, then I got so drunk and instead I passed out on the sofa. Diba nakakainis? I got so drunk, di ko tuloy na-try.

What's the closest you've come to getting arrested?
I guess I'm always “arrested” by my mom, before the police gets to me! Haha! Like before, I'd smoke in the States, and they've banned smoking in the streets in certain parts. Sometimes, when I try to throw it our of the car, siya pa yung nagagalit. And also in the streets where there are “no smoking” sings and I'd just kill my cigarette, and my mom would pick it up and put it into the trash can. That would be the “closest.”

In an intimate moment with your loved one, would you rather be the pilot or the co-pilot?
Stewardess na lang ako (laughs). I'd prefer to be the co-pilot. Since I don't really now so much about it, I just go with the feel. I just let my partner, my loved one, do it. Everything.

Have you heard any “business-class” jokes—jokes about your behind?
My butt? I usually get teased abut my butt because I have really big ass. Like ex-boyfriend used to tell his friends, “Grabe, now ko lang na-realize that my girlfriend has a big ass!” Whenever I'd walk, some would call me a duck, because it's just out there. More than the boobs, I get more of the butt.

So what do you think of women who fake their orgasms?
Kawawa naman their partners (laughs)/ Are they that lousy? Haha! I really just feel bad for them, because I really haven't done that yet. When I was starting, I didn't know what that was. So when they'd ask me [about] “fake” orgasms, I really didn't know that they're talking about.

When you're in a relationship, who gets to be the boss?
Because I'm very submissive girlfriend, then I guess it would have to be my partner. But it takes two to tango. They say that girls would always be the ones who run the relationship. They hold it. They keep it intact. So somehow, we're the boss also, kaso lang in a subtle way. I guess we're pretty open about it, that guys have more pride in themselves, and their ego gets hurt when you tell them that, “I'm the boss,” or, “you're under.” So you have to give it to them, for boost ego. And then the rest, you'd have to do in your subtle, quiet way. (Articles lifted from Uno Magazine) - -