The 30th anniversary show of homegrown retail giant Bench dubbed "Under The Stars" fulfilled its promise of gathering celebs from two rival networks, not to mention international supermodels, on one celebrated runway.
This year, television and online superstar Maine Mendoza arguably garnered the biggest cheers at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on November 18. As expected, Maine strutting on the runway was a highly-anticipated event: She trended on Twitter (#MainexBenchUnderTheStars) after coming out as a tropical princess in a '50s-pinup girl-inspired look.
But netizens were quick to jump to Maine’s "defense" for a video that caught the attention of fans, involving fellow Kapuso celebrity Gabbi Garcia, who allegedly snubbed Maine on stage.
In a fan uploaded video on Twitter, Maine was shown dancing and exchanging pleasantries with fellow Bench endorsers including those hailing from rival network ABS-CBN, including Kim Chiu, Inigo Pascual, Kathryn Bernardo, Daniel Padilla, and Julia Barretto.
Fans, however, were displeased to see Gabbi going straight to greet Julia, while seemingly ignoring Maine, who was standing beside her. Before the comments get nastier, Maine stood her ground to defend Gabbi about the "deadma" incident.
Maine said, "Hi guys, please do not bash Gabbi. Clearly, hindi lang niya napansin kaya sana 'wag na gawan ng issue. She is actually a nice person! Ang totoo niyan, siya pa nga 'yung palaging lumalapit at bumabati sa akin."
Gabbi quickly responded to Maine’s sweet gesture, saying, “Thank you, Maine I appreciate this so much"
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