There is no stopping TV co-stars Ellen Adarna, 29, and John Lloyd Cruz, 34, from showing snippets of their closeness off cam.
Last night, September 12, the Kapamilya actress posted on Instagram a short video clip of John Lloyd going down on the floor to pet a guard dog inside the lobby of EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City.
Ellen's caption reads, “Aso ng shangrila … Galing hahahaha”
In the video, Ellen is heard asking the security personnel looking after the guard dog, “Kuya, anong pangalan ng aso niyo?”
The security personnel answers, smiling, “John Lloyd.”
Then Ellen breaks in laughter, “John Lloyd? John Lloyd! Hahaha!”
John Lloyd, for his part, is seen also laughing and flashing a peace sign while sitting beside the black dog.
But the dog moves way, and Ellen teases the actor, “See? Ayaw niya sa ‘yo. Gusto niya sa akin.”
Ellen posted the video of John Lloyd with the dog only a few days after the videos of their recent Cebu getaway went viral, made headlines, and fuelled much speculation about their relationship among netizens.
Some expressed dismay at John Lloyd's "unseeming" antics, particularly a video where he was seen flashing the dirty finger, prompting the Kapamilya actor to apologize.
JUST FRIENDS? Ellen is in the cast of the ABS-CBN weekly sitcom Home Sweetie Home, topbilled by John Lloyd and Toni Gonzaga.
As early as October 2016, netizens have been speculating about the real score between Ellen and John Lloyd after she posted on Instagram a selfie with the actor with this caption: “'Ako nalang' Ahhahahahahah ‘you had me at my...’ #JLC #popoy&bashta lol”
After three months, on January 31, Ellen joined Home Sweetie Home’s third anniversary presscon, where she spoke and quashed rumors romantically linking her to John Lloyd.
The sexy actress further said that she was still in “high school” when she first met John Lloyd back in her hometown.
John Lloyd agreed that he did a mall show in Cebu at the time, “Dun kami unang nagkakilala. We go from way, way back.”
PERSISTING DATING RUMORS. But on February 6, six days after the presscon, the dating rumors about John Lloyd and Ellen persisted as they were spotted together again at the lobby of EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City.
A short PEP Alerts entry on PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) read: "PEP SPOTTED: John Lloyd Cruz and Ellen Adarna, namataan sa lobby ng EDSA Shangri-La Hotel.
"Ayon sa source, tila nakapambahay lang daw si John Lloyd, habang naka-shorts naman pero naka-heels si Ellen."
Since then, the two seemed to have grown closer and have been frequently seen together outside work.
Last weekend, they went on a four-day vacation in Bantayan Island, Cebu, with Ellen's relatives and close friends.
Netizens began picking up clues from Ellen and her friends' Instagram posts, once of which showed John Lloyd calling the sexy actress "baby."
In a separate PEP article, dated September 11, an unidentified source, who is close to the rumored couple, refused to confirm or deny speculations that Ellen and John Lloyd are in a relationship.
The source was quoted, saying, “Not confirming nor denying anything.
“We’re just all friends. Like, naging super close friends kami lahat.
“They have nothing to confirm, so wait na lang tao sa susunod na kabanata.”