Spotted in whose IG story?

The eagle-eyed netizen behind a JLC fan account on Instagram captured a screenshot of an IG story featuring the actor beside two white dogs sitting inside a car. According to fans, the IG story came from artist Isabel Santos, who is also the owner of two white dogs who look pretty similar to the ones in the photo.

Who is Isabel Santos?

Isabel Santos is a 31-year-old visual artist specializing in mixed media, combining acrylic paint and comic cut-outs in her works peppered with pop culture references. She hails from a family of artists as the daughter of artist couple Soler and Mona Santos and the granddaughter of award-winning contemporary Filipino artist Mauro “Malang” Santos.

Isabel has been part of several exhibitions and residencies in the country and across the world, including New York, Germany, and France. More recently, she became the first Filipino to win Uniqlo’s annual UT Grand Prix, besting over 10,000 entries and getting her design printed on Uniqlo shirts that will be sold worldwide. So how is she connected to JLC?

A homey photo

Back in early September, some fans of John Lloyd Cruz found what seems to be a photo of the actor from behind posted by Santos. You might be thinking — that could be any guy. But the house in the photo is pretty familiar to JLC fans, because it looks just like the actor’s sprawling French Mediterranean property in Antipolo.

Then another by the sea

About a month later, another photo of a man’s back looking into the sea was found on Santos’ Instagram account. Fans continued to speculate that this was JLC.

And another along the beach

For the latest post published just earlier this week, a man far away from the photographer is walking along a sandy yet rocky beach with a dog. Fans again speculated that this was part of the actor’s property in Batangas.

And a painting

An art aficionado, JLC spent a lot of time attending exhibits and art shows and collecting art pieces, especially during his long hiatus. So it’s no surprise that his social media account will also feature this hobby.

The actor posted a photo on Instagram showing a painting of a lady sleeping on a bed, captioned “Mona/Isabel.” Some fans thought it was pertaining to JLC’s former love team Bea Alonzo, since it looked similar to a still of the actress from one of their old movies called A Beautiful Affair. However, it later became clear that the caption was pertaining to Santos and her mother Mona, who both worked on the painting in the photo.

Netizens are wondering

Is it true? There has been no comment from either party involved, but fans are equal parts heartbroken and happy. Heartbroken because the Bea–John Lloyd tandem looks like it will remain on screen (which, by the way, was already confirmed earlier this year when Alonzo said she was dating actor Dominic Roque). Happy because things seem to be looking good for the actor’s family life, love life, and career. Whatever the relationship status of the actor, we’re pretty sure fans are happy for him as long as he himself is happy.

Speaking of career…

While keeping an eye on the social media accounts of JLC and Isabel Santos to perhaps find more clues, fans are also eagerly waiting for the actor’s next projects after his official comeback.

JLC is set to star in the Bobot Mortiz-directed show Happy Together, which will also see the actor in a creative director role. Fans are definitely happy to see him on the small screen again, but they’re also hoping to see a JLC–Bea reunion. Same.

OK gimme a JL-Bea project asap haha https://t.co/KW1jWdVKCE

— Lυɳα 🌼🌸 (@LunaAlyeska) November 9, 2021

Bea lloydy talaga forever 😍 https://t.co/eDwFnU2xiH

— Laaaaace (@LACLDR) November 9, 2021

What do you think of these speculations?