Raymund Isaac's photo studio is buzzing with non-stop flurry as it prepares fro Mrs. Sharon-Cuneta-Pangilinan's pictorial. A TV is tuned in to ABS-CBN, just a couple of feet away from her as Fanny Serrano fawns over her hair and Make-up. They looked trapped in their own little world as the rest of the worker bees get everything ready for the Queen's big day.

A trailer of Minsan, Minahal Kita comes on. She jerks almost reflexively and so does her Tita Fanny. She swings her gaze to the screen for just a second before reenacting the entire scene, but this time around, her emotions of love are jestingly directed to Fanny Serrano, and not Richard Gomez. Patiently, he waits for her to finish her dramatic interlude, holding up the make-up brush with a patronizing look on his face. It's obvious this is not the first time his VIP client is acting like a naughty little girl who can't sit still for a minute. When the scene fades out and she settles down, he dives back in with renewed vigor.

But I know what you're waiting for. My amusing anecdotes of observation aren't titillating you enough to keep reading unless I throw in a word or two that will catch your eye. Perhaps words like "weight loss," "diet" and "fat-free.?"

Because the question on everyone's mind is: How did she do it?

A gamut of answers and rumors have surfaced from the plausible to the not so plausible. Liposuction, Bangkok pills, Xenical, personal trainers, and even illegal substances have been credited for the Megastar's mega-magnificent new svelte figure. So which one was it? Which wonderful get-skinny-quick fat-reduction remedy will I mention that could cause an uproar in the diet industry?

None, unfortunately. "If people had been regular viewers of my show, they'd see that it was gradual. There was nothing drastic about it," she says with a hint of exasperation.

Indeed, judging from how critics are making it sound, the more gullible reader might be led to believe she was 500 pounds on day and anorexic the following week.

You can tell she's heard this more than once. It took Ms. Sharon a total of one year and four months to drop 69 pounds of unwanted insulation. It also took a high protein, low carb diet, no between-meal snacks, daily runs on the treadmill and a lot of sleepless nights during shootings to get the oo-la-la figure that she's got now. Critics have said it couldn't have been your traditional "change of lifestyle" deal because it was so sudden.

"I want to make this clear. I've been in this business for 22 years. People should know by now it never took 10 million remarks to get me to do something or not. I never really cared. So people would say, ang taba-taba mo and I'm thinking, totoo naman, eh. Because you know it's true. I'm not blind. I knew that I was fat, so that wasn't the motivation behind it. It was when I got sick of seeing myself like that, and what scared me the most was when I had to sleep sitting up with four pillows propped behind me. I couldn't sleep lying flat on my back because I couldn't breathe. There was really no other way to go. I had to close my eyes and dive right in and get disciplined.

The Sharon Cuneta before me is alarmingly perky, vivacious and in a discomfitingly good mood. She chats incessantly with everyone and squirms in her make-up chair as she gets antsy and excitable. When finally she is allowed to stand and shimmy into her outfit, the whole room ooooh's and aaaaaah's at how breathtaking she looks. The perpetual chirpy grin and bubbly disposition enhance how much she glows, coupled with her non-stop giggling. It's hard to believe a diva of her stature is so . . . nice.

Another perk to having lost the weight? She and KC are now swapping clothes. "You know, for years I couldn't buy anything off the rack. Now, I keep asking people what's the latest - it's like I'm going crazy because for years I was deprived! Now, I borrow clothes from KC. You won't recognize her anymore, she's almost as tall as I am. Nakakahiya nga, he. Diba't it's supposed to be the other was around? She's the one suppose to raid my closet."

Happy wife and proud mother, Sharon is obviously at a point in her life where she knows what she wants but is basking in what she already has. She refers to Kiko more often as "my husband," and loves her role as wife and mother. Her favorite compliment of all since she's dropped the weight comes from him. "When we talk and say goodbye, he says "Good night, payatot." She laughs and catches her breath. "I told him, you talaga! Plastic ka! You said you didn't care if I was big or small!" Giggle, giggle, giggle. High caliber actress, songbird and TV host extraordinaire na nakikilig. I scratch my head at the wonderment of it all.

With her husband, grown daughter, new figure and renewed pride, it looks like the mega-star is mega-happy indeed.