INTERVIEW: RIAN HERNANDEZ PHOTOGRAPHY: ERWIN "WENG" BARLETA OF EDGE OF LIGHT HAIR AND MAKEUP: ARCHIE TOLENTINO OF MAYBELLINE NEWYORK STYLING: BADJ GALIAS-GENATO LINGERIE BY VELVET ROSE; SHOES BY ALDO
ANOTHER SCORCHING SET OF VICTORIA’S PICS WILL BE UPLOADED NEXT WEEK ONLY HERE ON FHM.com.ph!
Victoria London may have started out playing naughty, smokin' hot and oh-so sexy roles years ago but this time around, this bombshell will be showing everyone that she is more than all that.
This versatile artist is a staple guilty pressure for men with a fetish for girls with brains. She spent the last three years jumping from Taiwan to the Philippines, appearing in numerous foreign TV shows, a radio show, and TV commercials, while simultaneously being chased by the Taiwanese paparazzi.
This month, she is scheduled to fly to the States to finally study law but before she says 'Bon voyage' she's unpacking her luggage one last time to share some her, erm, secrets.
After viewing her photos, might you want join us outside the US embassy? A protest picket line for cancellation of her visa anyone?
How was the shoot? The shoot was fun. It was a little tiring. I’m actually recovering from the flu. So, yeah its dizzying but I had a great photographer and he made me feel, you know, a little good about it.
How did you find the theme? The theme is totally 100% hot. I mean, every guy thinks girls striptease you know --- how you do it. It's kinda like the whole classy, sexy things.
How would you compare it to the previous shoots you've done before? Well this one has more realism. I mean it’s more real. It’s like you can actually see the girl taking off her clothes. As in the other ones, the girl is already wearing lingerie and just poses. But here you have to move and remove clothing and there's more action.
Looks like you love lingerie. Did you personally pick the ones you wore? I have a very good stylist, Badge.. I arrived before she did and I started grabbing lingerie, and by the time she got there, she was like, “What? You're done?” I was like, “Yeah, I chose it pretty quickly” and she was like, “Those are really lovely.” It’s really good that we saw eye to eye and well, I can spend a day in there just trying on lingerie. Do you have a personal collection? I do. I have a huge Victoria’s Secret collection. I have to say I have over 60 complete sets --- you know a lot of thongs and different bras. I like to use a lot of them and I like to collect. Some people collect cars while some people collect bags. I collect lingerie. I can wear it under a dress or you know, just wear it around the house. I have this habit of going around the house wearing just underwear. Single, in a relationship or it's complicated? I am single. Happily, that is. I started deciding whether or not I'm happy to be single. People get lonely. But I’d rather be miserable alone than having someone make you miserable.
So why are you single? I don’t know, You should ask the guys that question.
It is unthinkable that you're not dating anyone right now... I mean I have suitors but I really don't see any potential or anything because I mean I'm leaving for the States. I'm moving and long distance relationships don’t work. I just think that right now I just need to concentrate on my career and furthering my education. The course that I'm gonna be taking is equivalent to a PhD in law so its gonna need a lot of attention. I don’t think I have time to have boyfriends and that’s fine with me. How different is the Victoria London now to the Victoria London seven years ago, when you were just starting out ? The Victoria London in 2001 was a kid. She was a child. She was like 16 or 17. She was dried eyed and bushy-tailed. The Victoria now has experienced so much more and I think I'm more educated in different aspects. So the Victoria now is still playful but I think I see things in a different way now.
. How were you discovered in showbiz? Viva actually asked me to sign a 12-picture contract and I did one picture and realized that I shot a movie here. It was Tusong Twosome with Janno Gibbs. It was hilarious.
And you've been living in Taiwan for a while... I was there the last three years, as in show business. I do speak Mandarin fluently. I was born there actually. I endorsed products and entered showbiz there too. I used to have a talk show but then I moved over here. When I came back, I worked for Magic 89.9's “Boy’s Night Out” for a while. That was a lot of fun being back on the radio. We heard you always get the bitchy roles back in Taiwan... Yeah, I’m always the bitch. I always play the sexy bitchy type—the girl that walks into the room and makes girls grab their boyfriends. That’s the role I always get stuck with because I can never get stuck to the “little miss poor you know.” I'm just too playful or devilish but it was fun
What’s the difference between Philippine showbusiness and Taiwan’s? It's very, very different. Paparazzi there follow you 24/7. They know where you live. They harass you. Here, they want you to be beautiful. For example, you take a picture and you don’t look good, they Photoshop it and make you look thin. In Taiwan, they photoshop you to look fat because they want something juicy to write about.
How do you deal with the paparazzi? In the beginning, I cried because I'm not yet used to it coming from the Philippines where everybody was like 'pasensya' or something. It was like very, very different. In Taiwan, I would be in the supermarket buying groceries and they would write something like, ‘Victoria gained 10 pounds. and we found her shopping for food.’ Oh my God! Or I’d be seen in a restaurant, it’ll be like, ‘Victoria had five plates of food just for her.’ (laughs) So it's different. Here, you know what, I'm actually really, really glad that the Filo reporters are so tamad to even follow you anywhere. (laughs) They’ll just write whatever. I mean they wanna stay in their airconditioned rooms and they don’t wanna go out cause it’s so hot and its ma-traffic.
How would you then compare Pinoys to let's say Taiwanese or Chinese men? I think Filipinos are more romantic. They’re more physical. As in back in Taiwan, they’re not really into PDA. Like you see here, the guys go hold the girlfriend’s hand and give her a kiss. In Taiwan its like, we’re together but you need to stay five feet away from me.
Oh, so you want someone who's sweet. I’m just natural. If it's really casual holding hands, I don’t really notice it but I don’t go out of my way to make a show for anyone. In Taiwan, it still a very conservative country. So are you dating anyone famous, a celebrity boylet perhaps? Now? Uhmmm no. I would rather date somebody who isn’t known because that person can keep me grounded. I don’t wanna date anyone where there's going to be more complications because when we date, that person is like I'm dating all of his fans and when he’s dating me, he’s seeing all of my fans and reactions. I’d rather date a very simple guy. So have you used mandarin to flirt anyone? Well I don’t really flirt. Hmmm I mean in Taiwan, I always speak in mandarin except when I’m in radio doing international radio station. So I speak mandarin almost 90% of my day. I used it at home with my mom, speak in mandarin. As if she does not want my dad to know what we are saying. Ha ha!
You mentioned you’d like to go to law school sometime soon? Yeah, next month. I'm moving to the US and I'm not really sure when the term starts but it is three years full time, and then I'll have my JD which is equivalent to PhD or doctor of law. And I’d be practicing bilingual international corporate. Are you planning to settle down in the US? I plan to take up one year in the US, and then perhaps return to Asia, in Hong Kong because if I speak two languages like mandarin, I can work as a lawyer there. And eventually I really hope to be a CNN anchor woman. I wanna be a commentator and with the PhD, they'd give me more leverage ‘cause there you’re respected because you’re educated. Are you saying goodbye to showbiz here in the Philippines? I'm not gonna say goodbye forever because the Philippines is always gonna be really dear to me. I mean I spent so many years here. I moved here when I was 15. I’ve always loved the Philippines. I’ve always loved my friends and I miss them so much. I really have to visit because I really miss Boracay now. (laughs)
We did a little researching and saw some controversial photos on the Internet. How true are these pictures? I had seven different parties for my birthday last year. I mean, you know, I have a lot friends that own bars so it’s like, “let's celebrate your birthday party here.” I said “No, I'm having parties on all of your places.” I did not drink for two weeks after that because I was so hung over. Yeah but I mean, I’m 25. It is special because it’s like your quarter life. It’s like a mark, its something to celebrate. Turning 25 is a milestone. What was the worst thing you’ve done when drunk? Well, I got home one time and I didn’t realize how drunk I was, and I decided to get a shower so I sat down and the water was just like pouring. I kinda slept the whole time. It was like 3 o'clock in the morning, I woke up at seven. So I slept in the shower for like four hours. I was like “holy crap!”
Would you date anyone older? I actually prefer older guys. My limit is 25 and I wouldn’t date anyone older than 40. The oldest one was like 38 and it worked.
What’s the craziest things you’ve done in all of your 25 years? Well last time I walked to Greenbelt and I got myself a stocking pretending to be a Vegas showgirl. At that time, the Ms. Earth candidates were still airing. (laughs) The second craziest thing was skinny dipping in a hotel swimming pool. The most recent craziest thing I've done? Well, one of my best friends has this beach house and I went there for the weekend and the whole group was having a bonfire and we got really, really drunk. Two of us decided to run around the bonfire topless. I love this girl so much and all of the guys there were so wasted they didn’t even notice except for this guy, who tried to get on taking his cigar.
So what are your future plans? Well, I wanna conquer. I wanna be someone. I mean I’ve been this sexy figure, sexy personality, icon for so long now that I wanna graduate from it. I wanna become somebody who is respected. That’s why I wanted to go further my education. I wanna be someone like, if you see me a few years and say now she’s in the news and she’s becoming someone.. I wanna be somebody with quality.
And maybe you are looking for someone with quality too... Yeah, I don’t go for looks. If you see my ex boyfriends, they 're not exactly good looking but they are much smart and talkative persons. I like people who keep me talking. He also has to be sincere, honest, and he should have integrity. He’s got to be good to his mom. You can tell that. And I really measure how that is with the way he acts in restaurants --- the way he treats the waiters. I like a person with a kind heart.
At what age do you think you'll settle down? I think I’m gonna be married at 33 because I'm gonna do some leverage by practicing. Well, maybe if I meet someone great but if I don’t, I'll just have to live alone.
