The change in Jackie Rice is undeniable.

Once a shy and inhibited young actress, the StarStruck winner looks more confident and self-assured, as PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) found out last Friday, January 15, minutes before her scheduled autograph signing for FHM Philippines at Robinsons Galleria in Quezon City.

Jackie is the cover girl of the country's number one men's magazine this month of January.

For the shoot, Jackie and the FHM staff ventured outside Manila and went all the way to Boracay to conduct the pictorial.

"Ang dami kong naramdaman for this. Sobrang kinakabahan ako, ninenerbiyos, excited... Actually mixed emotions, e," Jackie described to PEP.

FOR THE FANS. With Jackie finally relenting to grace the cover, FHM's hot pursuit of the mestiza actress officially came to an end.

"Ginawa ko 'to for the fans," Jackie replied when asked what prompted her to accept the magazine's long-standing invitation.

She was both elated and in disbelief upon seeing the layout of the photos. For someone who for a time was not comfortable being a public figure, mustering enough courage to pose in a men's magazine and seeing the results helped tremendously in improving her self-esteem.

Going sexy in print, however, did not automatically mean that Jackie would completely abandon that sweet image her home network had carefully cultivated since her entry into show business in 2005.

"Mas sexy kasi matured na ako ngayon," Jackie said. "Pero hindi ko pa rin iniiwan 'yong pa-tweetums ko dahil for me, ito [appearing on the cover] ini-explore ko lang 'yong kakayanan ko kung kaya ko ba, and natutuwa ako dahil maganda naman 'yong feedback."