PHOTOGRAPHY: PAOLO PINEDA
INTERVIEW: B.A. BORLEO
STYLING BADJ GALIAS
MAKEUP: ARCHIE TOLENTINO FOR MAYBELLINE
HAIR: JIM GUERRERO FOR L'OREAL PROFESSIONEL

SWIMSUITS FROM BADJ SWIMWEAR AND COUTURE, FOR INQUIRIES EMAIL BADJSWIMWEAR@YAHOO.COM
SHOT ON LOCATION AT LANCASTER HOTELS, SHAW BLVD., MANDALUYONG CITY

ANOTHER SCORCHING SET OF LIRIO'S PICS WILL BE UPLOADED NEXT WEEK ONLY HERE ON FHM.com.ph! 

Two years ago we received an email from a Pinay model based in the US inquiring about how she can land in FHM. "Send us your photos and we'll see what we can do," we answered. And that she did. And it was stunning, to say the least.

That girl was Lirio Medel.  

Fast-forward to late 2008 and we finally got to meet this 30-year-old hottie in person. In town for a family reunion, she squeezed in a photoshoot with us. But there's a sad ending to this chanced meeting. These shots folks are Lirio's final photos as a model.

Yes, after ten years of living a model's life Lirio says she's ready to be a nine-to-fiver and a family woman. But she made sure though that she'd leave all of us something to remember her by. Treat the following weeks then as Lirio's retirement party-slash-grand welcome to 2009!

Wow, good thing you included us in your schedule...
Yeah, ha ha! Actually when I heard that we were going to have a family reunion, I e-mailed someone from the website to inform them. That was about a year ago and then everything was coordinated for me.

Is the Philippines anything you expected?
I was actually scared of the Philippines because I've never left the US, and I didn't know how chaotic it could be around here especially during the Christmas season. So I'm very happy to see that everything is very peaceful and everybody is nice to you.

So what's the best and the worst thing you've seen here?
Ah, the traffic! Ha ha! Being on the other side of the street when we're driving, that's the scariest. And also the poverty, which I really didn't expect to be that bad. 

Our guess is you've been to the local tourist spots, where did your family brought you?
They have nice places here that we have been visiting, we went playing with dolphins, horseback riding, anything you can think of. Tagaytay, it was beautiful there, it's one of my favorite places. We also went to Subic and the Hundred Islands.

Did you find it hard to memorize the name of the places?
Yeah, I don't know where north, south, and east is, ha ha! But I noticed there's a Jollibee in every corner, ha ha!

What kind of feedback did you get after your first FHM pictorial?
First it was negative. Nobody in my family could understand because their very conservative. My mom was the worst, but when the rest of my family started accepting it she learned to accept it, too. So now she's a little more supportive.

What were they really against?
The nudity, of course, ha ha! My mom liked the pictures and I told them beforehand, she just didn't expect it to be like that. She's used to me going to photoshoots, she always asked me if I'm going to wear clothes or no clothes, ha ha! Today when she asked me, I said, "I don't know mom. Maybe." Ha ha! 

How do you think would she react to this one?
I think she'll still be shocked, of course. I'm not going to say like, "Oh, she's going to be happy about it." But she already knows that I make my own choices, I've always been independent about my opinions.

So you're prepared for another round of reprimand?
Oh, of course, ha ha! It goes from one ear to another, ha ha! But, yeah, I care about how she feels.

Have your mom always been this patient of you?
Yeah, I mean, like when I was younger my sisters and I took care of ourselves because our mom and dad were always working. We grew up independent-minded, I mean, if we weren't my sister wouldn't be an auto mechanic right now or my other sister wouldn't be a chemist. You know, my mom always wanted us to be who we are, to not live a lie. She always told us, "Whatever makes you happy." And that's what she told me after FHM, ha ha!

Are you willing to stay here forever?
Not forever but I'm willing to visit here. I think I'm very Americanized but I like it here there's a lot more places to visit. In the States everything seems to be the same, over here it seems every block is different, ha ha! It's very exciting.

How's your Tagalog now? Especially that you're here.
All I know is "talaga," ha ha! And "Where's the CR?" Ha ha! But I always could understand Tagalog fluently.

What's the most important phrase that you learned when you got here?
"Salamat," I think that's it. 

We've long established that you aren't shy being photographed sans clothing. Is there anything you're afraid of?
Uhm, my boyfriend getting mad at me, ha ha! But, yeah, I'm not shy. But I'm also afraid of when I got a job they might not accept me, I don't know if they look it up online so that's what I worry about the most ‘cause I don't want to be stereotyped.

So you're willing to abandon all these and get a nine-to-five job?
Oh yeah, modeling was always a second focus, I just wanted to do it and I wont regret turning my back on it.

You brought along your boyfriend for this shoot, so that means he approves of all this?
Yeah. He always tells me he has no choice because I like to do it. I know that he's very protective of me but I know what I'm doing and I can sense when someone's not being professional and I'm not going to put myself on danger. I think he worries more about me having stalkers and people seeing me in a different way.

At what point do you think he would have stopped this shoot?
If I took everything off, even if I just showed something frontal, cause I told him I wouldn't, ha ha! But even if he weren't here I wouldn't have done that because when I get home I am going to look for a full-time job. I was already offered some interviews but I told them that they had to wait after my visit here. 

That means this is the last hurrah for you?
Yes, I think so. Were ready for a family. He's like, "That's it!" Ha ha!

You seem comfortable stripping, is this something you do regularly in, you know, private?
I look at the mirror a lot so yeah. I mean, practicing poses. I feel comfortable in front of people if they're professional.

What turns you on?
Back massages, ha ha!

Is there a process with you? Like, if a guy wants to get intimate.
No. Actually I think when they talk to me and it's smooth and it's really nice. And if I'm touched at my back, I like back scratches. It's weird I have a fetish for my back. Oh, I also like watching his pornographic videos. It's not like it turns me on but I'm like a guy sometimes, I like what they like.

And if you have to turn on someone what do you do?
Take off my clothes, ha ha! Maybe a massage, I'll scratch his back also or I'll rub against him, ha ha!

We're a few days away from Christmas, have you been naughty or nice?
I've been nice, compared to ten years ago. I've mellowed down a lot. I've been thinking a lot about what I want for my future. Before I was very reckless, it was just about me and what I wanted to do. I didn't care what my mom said but now I'm starting to see why she wants to be a little less liberal.

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