Amid the happy and memorable celebration of his birthday, Vhong Navarro just couldn’t look past his friend John Lloyd Cruz‘s absence.
ICYMI, Vhong reunited with his Kanto Boys groupmates, Luis Manzano and Billy Crawford as they performed on the It’s Showtime Stage, on Tuesday, January 30, 2024. Joining them to complete the production were leading men Joshua Garcia and Pepe Herrera.
After their performance, Vhong shed some light as to why John Lloyd was absent from their performance, also hinting that he was supposed to be at the show. His co-host, Vice Ganda earlier joked, “Ayan parang walang ka-stress-stress…“
Vhong later on disclosed that some unforeseen circumstances led to John Lloyd’s absence.
“Dapat po kumpleto talaga ang Kanto boys. Sadyang meron lang talagang—may ‘di inaasahang pangyayari. Kaya si Lloydie ay hindi po nakapunta rito.“
Without dropping any hint about the latter’s situation, Vhong made sure to express his support for his friend. “Kaya naman Lloydie, basta nandito lang kaming mga ka-grupo mo, mahal na mahal ka namin. Alam ko malalagpasan mo ang lahat ng ito,” the It’s Showtime host declared.
Of course, Vhong thanked Joshua and Pepe for agreeing to appear in the noontime show for his birthday in a seemingly *last-minute* request. He remarked, “Salamat sa inyo mga biglaang hindi tumanggi.”
The Kanto Boys debuted in 2009 in the longtime-running noontime Sunday show, ASAP. Their weekly stint that included witty and exciting dance numbers ended in 2015. But the four still had the closest friendship through the years.
John Lloyd Cruz’s showbiz hiatus
John Lloyd, who’s one of the most sought-after actors of his generation, took a sudden and indefinite hiatus from his showbiz career in 2017. Despite this, John Lloyd once noted that he wasn’t “gone” from showbiz, instead, he was doing smaller productions during those times.
“Hindi ako umalis sa harap ng camera. Kasi kahit naman tumigil ako noon with my usual work in showbiz, in films and TV, nagtuloy pa rin naman ako but much, much smaller production,” he said in a 2021 interview.
The seasoned actor added, “Medyo crowded doon sa isang daan.”
John Lloyd furthered explained that there were instances in his life and career back in 2017 that made him take a step back. “Talagang binabago tayo ng industriya in many ways na pwede mong ma-imagine. Akala mo you had it all figured out pero biglang may mangyayari sa ‘yo and you realize na, “Hindi na ako iyon ah.” And then you take a step back. ‘Yung pag-step back ko, medyo lumayo lang,” Johh Lloyd recounted.
It was also in 2017 when his former partner, Ellen Adarna got pregnant with their son now, Elias.
