This will not be a repetition of Comedy Queen Ai Ai delas Alas’ interview with the ‘King of Talk’ Boy Abunda that happened recently in his program, Fast Talk With Boy Abunda. Although, there will be some snippets of it.

Why did her decade-old marriage with husband Gerald Sibayan go kaput? She had enumerated the reasons during an interview conducted by her personal manager. The scarred but beautiful woman donned an off- shoulder, long-sleeved white dress, accented by diamond earrings, a white gold necklace, with hair and its extensions, neatly placed together, for a truly regal look.

During the course of the question and answer with her Ama, her term of endearment for Abunda, Ai Ai was poised, carefully choosing the words she uttered, in control of her emotions, breaking down only once when a sensitive matter became the topic of conversation.

In fact, what Ai Ai displayed to us who managed to watch the birthday and big reveal episode, it was the greatest performance of her life. Gut-wrenching and heart-tugging to watch, knowing the fact that all she did was to love and follow the dictates of her heart.

Personally speaking, I’ve had a few encounters with the Sibayan ex-couple. When I became one of the writers for a book to honor the legacy of director Wenn Deramas, I interviewed Ai Ai over brunch at her house, with Gerald joining us. My first impression of him? He is obviously an educated man, presenting himself as shy, smiling meekly. He never joined in the conversation, and offered his two cents worth of blabber. He just sat, listened and enjoyed the hearty brunch. Of course, Ai Ai was at her comic and sincere best, as she recollected the friendship she had with Direk Wenn.

Another time was in the dressing room of his wife in a shoot. That time, since my face and persona was already familiar to him, he was more congenial, smiled sincerely, and made small talk. The next was in a coffee place, after Ai Ai’s grand Kapuso welcome. He beamed with so much pride for his then partner, and was most welcoming and amiable to the press he already knew. And in a private audience with the comedy queen, with him present again, Sibayan told me that he loved reading my stories about his beloved.

The Delas Alas and Sibayan union defied societal conventions, with the two believing in the glory and the power of their love. What transpired between them, in their private spaces, is a reality that only two of them share and know.

Thus, I cannot help but wonder, what becomes of the broken hearted, especially if it’s someone like Ai Ai delas Alas?