Filipino showbiz readers, television entertainment fanatics, netizens, and fandoms of actors Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby can’t forget the biggest issues that happened to these Kapamilya A-list actors. Even edited photos of Piolo and Sam holding hands together surfaced in social media and went viral but according to Piolo’s camp it was “purely edited.”

Most of their supporters were interested and never stopped discussing the rumored relationship status of these hunky men in 2008. Talent manager and TV host Lolit Solis was invited by businessman Erning Lim to visit an exhibit at the Sofitel, one of the high-class hotels in Pasay City at that time.

It wasn’t the exhibit that caught Lolit Solis’ attention; she was utterly surprised by what she saw. Years ago, according to Manay Lolit’s article in the Philippine Star Ngayon, it all started when she got lost inside Sofitel, trying to find the location of the exhibit.

She wasn’t very familiar with the venue. Owing to misdirection and probably the unavailability of a venue map, she found herself entering Sofitel’s poolside coffee shop in the late afternoon. Realizing that she was in the wrong place, she started looking for another entrance or exit, walking and looking left and right.

Two handsome men caught Manay Lolit’s attention as she walked through. She noticed that the two men looked sweet with each other, exchanging whispers as their cheeks nearly touched. As Manay Lolit was approached by a waiter who called her name, apparently wanting her autograph, the two men quickly left. Manay Lolit nearly tripped trying to get a closer look. Her curiosity was rewarded when she discovered who the two men were: Sam Milby and Piolo Pascual, who were both very popular and in-demand actors at that time. Someone told Manay Lolit that Sam and Piolo frequently hung out at Sofitel’s poolside coffee shop because the place didn’t usually get many visitors, and they were often seen happy together talking.

According to Manay Lolit, she wouldn’t have noticed the two if it weren’t for their hasty and noticeable exit. Solis wouldn’t even have thought anything malicious about what she saw if Sam and Piolo had greeted her or said hello, even if they didn’t know her that well. On her way home, she pondered over what she had witnessed. Later, after her article was released, the actual story was revealed by Manay Lolit on her Star Talk regular entertainment talk show.

As for Sam and Piolo, people could only speculate about their true sexuality, as both heartthrobs had been rumored to be gay. However, they are real men—Piolo has a son, and Sam was dating an actress at the time.

Some write-ups claimed that the two were in a relationship and always checked in at Sofitel, often seen entering between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Some articles said that Sam and Piolo were seen together, walking through the lobby. Their fans believed and defended them, asserting that Sam wasn’t gay because he was attracted to Angel Locsin and Anne Curtis Smith; similarly, Piolo had been linked to the likes of Judy Ann Santos and Rica Peralejo. However, Piolo has a son out of wedlock.

After months of heated showbiz discussions, the fabricated story between them eventually died down, and all the rumors were dismissed. There were also photos of them that surfaced on social media holding hands in one photo, but it was later revealed that the image had been edited by their bashers. The real photo showed Piolo holding a girl’s hand was Toni Gonzaga, with Sam standing beside him. Sam and Piolo filed a libel case against Manay Lolit Solis for damaging their reputation. After a year, Piolo decided to drop the case, not wanting to see an older woman like Lolit Solis sent to jail.

In the present day, after sixteen years, Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby are together again, working on a project called Chef Chico, with Alessandra de Rossi, now streaming on Netflix. Does this mean that both men’s hearts will be happy again as close friends? Does it mean that Manay Lolit Solis will zip her lips for now, or maybe entertainment columnist Cristy Fermin will have additional knowledge about this story?