Two very popular showbiz celebrities mark their birthdays tomorrow, Feb. 14, Araw ng mga Puso: Kris Aquino and Heart Evangelista.

It was such a privilege to have separately worked with them, sa magkaibang panahon sa GMA’s “Startalk,” the country’s longest running showbiz-oriented talk show.

Kris was one of its pioneer curtain raisers, samantalang inabot ni Heart hanggang sa mamaalam ang show on September 12, 2015, barely a month before it would have notched its 20th year.

Ang segment ni Kris noon was This Must Be Love, a take-off from Carmi Martin’s line in Ishmael Bernal’s Working Girls na, “Sabel, this must be love!”

Ang kay Heart naman ay Heart to Heart.

Ang mga paksang tinatalakay nila ay hindi umiikot sa puro pag-ibig. Those were light yet insightful moments, na hinaluan ng mas lamang na Ingles na tsikahan – depending on their respective guests’ lingual proficiency.

As co-workers, Kris and Heart differed in work habits. Common to them though was their conscious effort to look good, from head to toe.

Kapag natapat sila sa subject who was less than showbiz, magkaiba rin ang kanilang atake. Kris was the type who looked casual and unprepared, pero ‘yun pala’y kinagabihan pa lang ay ni-research na niya ang ilang unknown facts about her interviewee. In contrast, Heart was enthusiasm personified – collaborating with the segment writer as to how to conduct the interview.

Backstage scenes became a witness kung ano ang totoong sila. Their unguarded moments provided a peek into their non-showbiz side most people hardly know.

Poles apart din sina Kris at Heart whenever they stepped in the studio. If Kris was literally like a walking closet (from accessories to shoes to wardrobe), Heart couldn’t go wrong with what she had planned to wear, na alam niyang bagay sa kanya.

In fairness, kapwa sila cooperative; marunong makinig, a delight to us writers. Ikakagulat mo na lang ang kanilang input, neither written on idiot boards nor fed on cue cards.

Mas nakaka-prick nga lang ng ego ang style ni Kris as her impressive preparedness could make her segment writer feel his best wasn’t good enough. Doon mas nakakaangat si Kris over Heart.

But on the personal side, obviously, kabog ni Heart si Kris whose relationship then with Phillip Salvador left no diffe­rence sa mga sumunod pang pakiki­pagrelasyon niya.

Anyway, maligayang kaarawan kina Kris at Heart! (Vis A Vis / Ronnie Carrasco III)