Rica Peralejo says she regrets past as sexy star: ‘What I did caused others to sin’
Rica Peralejo isn’t shy to admit that she regrets a few things she did during her youth—specifically when she was still in showbiz. Particularly, the erstwhile actress said she regrets her stint as a sexy star during the early years of her career.
In a vlog posted on her YouTube channel over the weekend, Rica said being a sexy star wasn’t necessarily a choice she made; rather, it was something that just happened.
“Like many things in my life, I really don’t make decisions,” she explained. “What I mean about that is, parang nagfo-flow in and out of things lang ako.”
Rica said that she had been told that she needed to change her image in order to survive show business. “One way that they saw this happening was if I took on more mature roles.”
By mature roles, she meant starring in “sexy” movies during the early 2000s. These movies, which featured light nudity and sex scenes, were very popular during that time, dominating movie theaters and the box office. Many actresses at the time took the sexy star route in order to get a foothold in show business.
Rica started out in showbiz as a child star, being part of the ABS-CBN youth-oriented variety show Ang TV. She starred in her first “mature” movie, Balahibong Pusa in 2001, when she was 19 years old, following it up with Dos Ekis, Sa Huling Paghihintay, Hibla, and Tatarin.
“That means I really bared some parts of my body and did some really horrifying, not-so-proud-of things on screen just so we could give something to our producers for a movie,” Rica said of the “sexy” films she starred in.
She added, “Yung pagsisi ko lang din, what I did caused others to sin, or at least aggravated it or contributed to the defiling of who they were. That's, of course, heavy on me. Baka kailangan ko lang talaga siya sa sarili kong puso para malaman ko na hindi ako perfect. Also at the same time, it just really highlights the grace of God in my life.”
Rica, an openly devout Christian, is married to pastor Joseph Bonifacio. They have two children.
Baka kailangan ko lang talaga siya sa sarili kong puso para malaman ko na hindi ako perfect. Also at the same time, it just really highlights the grace of God in my life.
The 39-year-old former actress also admitted that she didn’t like her work in showbiz, despite staying in the business for almost two decades.
“Truth be told, it was really just the money. I didn’t like it. Plus the part that I supported my family for the most part,” she said.
Now, however, Rica is open to returning to showbiz “kung gusto ko yung mga kasama ko, kung kaya na ng mga anak, and kung worth it yung project.”
In her vlog, Rica also revealed that she had breast implants when she was 18 years old—but she had them removed in 2017.
“Truth be told, I don’t really remember why I did that,” she said of her breast augmentation.
As for her breast explant surgery—a procedure that removes the implants—Rica said: “I felt like kasi, with all of the changes in my life, after how many years I understood na hindi ko pala talaga kailangan ito. Saka hindi pala ako ito.”
She has nothing against those who have had breast implants. “It’s just that pag nire-recall ko kung ano ba talagang reason ko, hindi ko maintindihan. Hindi ko maalala bakit ko ginusto yun. Patanggal na lang natin,” Rica explained.
“So I had them removed. And, you know, I just felt so much peace after that. I felt like, ito pala talaga ako. ito pala talaga yung katawan ko.”
Banner photo from Rica Peralejo's YouTube Channel, Instagram account