‘We love you!’ Kim gets message from ‘ultimate idol’ Heart over #BawalLumabas comeback

MANILA — Bouncing back from a dark chapter with no less than a new hit, Kim Chiu got the bonus of receiving a message from her “ultimate idol,” Heart Evangelista.

LEFT: Heart Evangelista and Kim Chiu pose together for the November 2019 issue of Metro.Style. RIGHT: Kim Chiu turns emotional in a behind-the-scenes video of her recording of of ‘Bawal Lumabas.’ Courtesy of Metro.Style/YouTube: Kim Chiu PH

Evangelista, as well as her husband, Sorsogon Gov. Chiz Escudero, were among the celebrities who cheered on Chiu on Tuesday, as she released the track “Bawal Lumabas.”

The song is drawn from a viral statement of Chiu in defense of her embattled home network ABS-CBN, which was then used to ridicule her for what she admitted was a poorly worded analogy with classroom rules.

The incessant mudslinging, she said, was one of the “lowest points in my life,” and even led her to retreat from social media altogether.

When she returned on Monday, a recovered Chiu sought to turn a negative experience into something positive, with the release of her music collaboration with DJ Squammy, who made the viral “remix” of her statement, and Adrian Crisanto, whose open letter encouraging Chiu similarly went viral.

“This is how to handle and do it!” Escudero tweeted Chiu on Monday, congratulating her. “You just showed everybody how to turn lemons into lemonade! Kudos to you!”

In her own tweet quoting Escudero, Evangelista then told Chiu: “We love you! At the end of the day, you can never put a person with a good heart down.”

Chiu thanked both, and called Evangelista her “lodi forevs.”

Chiu has long identified Evangelista as one of her showbiz idols. In November 2019, she fulfilled her dream of working with Evangelista when they shared the cover of Metro.Style.