Barbie Forteza had never before worn a bikini nor shown some skin in any teleserye, TV guesting or event until 2017, when she did her prime-time series Meant To Be.
It was for a beach scene of an episode that aired in February 2017, where Barbie's character, Billie, had a beach outing with the JEYA Boys.
JEYA stood for the names of her four leading men portrayed by Addy Raj as Jai, Ivan Dorschner as Ethan, Ken Chan as Yuan, and Jak Roberto as Andoy.
Prior to the airing of the episode, Barbie's bikini photos circulated on social media after GMA posted behind-the-scenes shots of the episode.
One photo was a solo of Barbie clad in a two-piece swimsuit.
The other was a group photo of Barbie and the boys.
Barbie was praised and called "sexy" by her celebrity friends, such as ABS-CBN actress Bela Padilla and GMA-7 actresses Kris Bernal, Lovi Poe, Sanya Lopez, Rochelle Pangilinan, Bea Binene, and Joyce Ching.
In a 24 Oras interview, before the episode wa shown, Barbie disclosed she really prepared for the scene.
She said, "Once na nabasa ko ang script na may ganitong eksena, nag-cut agad ako ng carbs.
"Wala agad carbs, maliit na chicken for protein lang at egg whites, 'tapos saging na saba."
Subsequently, in another interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), Barbie was asked for her reaction to the celebrities who commented on her bikini photo.
She remarked, “Nagkalat ang scandal ko. Dyusko!”
GMA-7 started showing reruns of Meant To Be this Monday, May 22, on its prime-time slot.
GMA-7 has temporarily halted production of its entertainment programs following the guidelines of the enhanced community quarantine.
The network has been showing reruns of old teleseryes in lieu of its current shows.
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