The on-screen partners spend a day in Hong Kong and show us why they are the love team of the moment
This is an excerpt from MEGA Entertainment’s December 2023-January 2024 cover story
It’s the gift that keeps on giving! The hit series Maging Sino Ka Man may have been over, but its lead stars and today’s hottest duo, Barbie Forteza and David Licauco, dubbed BarDa by their fans, tell us that they are just scratching the surface.
As they roam around Hong Kong with the Mega Entertainment team for their first-ever magazine cover together, Barbie and David, both Sparkle artists, unwind and “rewind” as they share the unlikely moments that made them end up together on primetime TV.
Listening to Barbie Forteza and David Licauco feels like recharging yourself. It’s natural and healing. Basically, you know what you’re getting yourself into while talking to two of GMA’s biggest stars today. No showbiz answers, no façades—just two artists doing their jobs fantastically.
Their personalities are interestingly dissimilar. Barbie describes herself as an ambivert, while David is obviously an introvert, and the more “chill” of the two—with a capital C. We are in a quiet corner at The Royal Pacific Hotel and Towers at the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui as we talk to BarDa in between photo shoots.
“First time kong mag-print shoot with David for a magazine, ’tapos out of the country pa,” Barbie says. “Alam nating lahat na napaka-chill ni David, so it’s nice to have that company kahit taranta na tayong lahat. Siya ang kukuhanan mo ng calmness sa katarantahan.”
Speaking of calmness, you can sense the comfortable energy between the two. Once during the interview, when it was David’s turn to share his signature, drawn-out answers, Barbie snores jokingly. They both laugh.
Everyone who’s been with David knows that he is usually a man of few words, but for this, upon the slight prodding of Barbie, too, he gave lengthier statements.
“First-ever ginawa namin was a teleserye, and everything after that was unexpected,” David recalls. “We have another teleserye coming up. But this, since it’s a magazine cover, it’s more chill because walang acting.”
The chemistry of David and Barbie wasn’t this obvious on the day they met. At the time, David thought Barbie was, “Mataray, which is understandable because our dynamics, at first, was complicated. How I approached her pa was tinanong ko, ‘Uy, breadwinner ka ba?’ Ang labo naman talaga. Siyempre after that, naisip ko, ‘Uy ang taray nito, a.’ Hindi ko naman alam na weird ’yong tanong ko.”
“I realized that I said something that didn’t come off as nice,” David adds. “$Minsan mataray siya talaga, pero nasa lugar. Sa akin, directly pinapahalata niya, like hindi niya ako papansinin. For someone like me na walang pake, kailangan kong mag-adjust. Everything I do, she will be affected, and we’re partners here.”
Find out what happened with Barbie Forteza and David Licauco in Hong Kong in MEGA’s December 2023-January 2024 issue, now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio
Photography SHAIRA LUNA. Creative Direction JONES PALTENG. Makeup TONI AVILES (Barbie). Hair FATIMA MERCADO (Barbie). Grooming NATHAN FEROLINO (David). Styling DAVID MILAN (David) and MIGUEL QUILANG (Barbie). Sittings Editor BAM ABELLON. Videography TIM DUENAS. Special thanks to the HONG KONG TOURISM BOARD, THE ROYAL PACIFIC HOTEL AND TOWERS, and AIRASIA
