At long last, a soap featuring last year’s sensational AlDub

Long overdue. This is the sentiment of many TV observers on the upcoming soap opera featuring Alden Richards and the one-time dubsmash queen Maine Mendoza, otherwise known as AlDub, Destined To Be Yours, on GMA 7.

The series is premiering on Monday, replacing the meandering Alyas Robin Hood, on the network’s primetime block.

Now, many are asking if the tandem is still as hot after their accidental pairing on daytime television on July 16, 2015.

The answer is a mix of “yes” and “no” that we can only confirm when the series hits the screen.

There’s no doubt Aldub Nation is still as strong as ever, but most of them are fans of the pair in Eat Bulaga. Will Destined To Be Yours change their viewing habits, support the soap and just like what they had done in the third quarter of 2015 propelled the tandem to stratospheric popularity thus earning the moniker “phenomenal love team”?

Destined to Be Yours focuses on the characters played by Richards (Benjie Rosales) and Mendoza and (Sinag Obispo).

The Kapuso gang of show pitchers chirps “it is set in a charming and picturesque town where anything, especially destiny, is a possibility. It is a beautiful tale that encapsulates the value of standing by what you believe in, the joy of belonging in a family, and the splendor of finding someone who loves you for you.”

Well, if you’re a fan of the tandem that short piece of romantic waxed to push the show to the press covering television should be reason enough to lift your spirits and start counting the time until the premiere of the show on Monday night.

In the series, Benjie,a talented but happy-go-lucky architecture graduate is determined to make a name for himself by heading a big construction project in the mountains of Pelangi. There, he crosses paths and eventually falls in love with the provincial radio disc jockey, Sinag, a sensible woman who cares for her family, the environment and the community she belongs to. 

But what happens when their contradicting values and duties to their families get in their way? 

Also in the cast of the series are Boots Anson Roa as Helen Rosales, Vicente’s understanding wife and Benjie’s adoring grandmother. Lotlot De Leon plays Amanda Rosales, the loving and affectionate mother of Benjie. Gardo Versoza is Teddy Obispo, husband of Sally and a devoted father to Sinag. Tommy Abuel appears as Vicente Rosales, Benjie’s grandfather who owns one of the biggest real estate companies in the country. Ronnie Henares plays the corrupt Dante Escobar, mayor of Pelangi and father of Marjorie. Ina Feleo is Catalina Rosales, daughter of Vicente and Helen who be Benjie’s antagonist. Sheena Halili is Ninay, a gossip but Sinag’s closest childhood friend. Dominic Roco is Benjie’s college best friend, Jason, who volunteers to go with him to the province. Juancho Trivino is Sinag’s childhood best friend, Badong, who is also secretly in love with her. RJ Padilla is Arman, Badong’s outgoing friend who secretly has feelings for Ninay. Koreen Medina is Marjorie Escobar, daughter of the richest family in Pelangi who later on falls for Benjie.

This romantic series also features the return of Janice de Belen to GMA. She breathes life to the character of Sally Obispo, the cheerful, modern, and quirky mother of Sinag who loves painting and psychic reading.

The success of this soap opera depends greatly on the fans of the two lead stars. Apart from AlDub Nation, Richards and Mendoza have each their own army of followers that should guarantee the show a high pilot ratings and even thereafter.

If the figures on the pilot week could affirm the tandem’s popularity, Eat Bulaga can benefit strongly from the series.