We asked the show’s director, Dominic Zapata, how they got Tom. “When the show was assigned to me, in na sina Dennis and Carla. But for the role of Vincent, the gay husband, we called for an open audition at marami ang sumubok,” he says. “Of course, hindi ko na sasabihin kung sino-sino sila. But sa kanilang lahat, si Tom ang nagustuhan namin kasi siya lang yung kakaiba ang take sa scene na pinagawa namin sa kanila, yung break up scene with Dennis Trillo’s character. The others treated homosexuality as a disease. Tom interpreted it with so much understanding. Maaawa ka kay Vincent kasi nilabanan niya talaga yung gay feelings niya. He really wanted to go straight kaya nagkarelasyon sila ni Carla and while they’re on a beach outing in Morong, Bataan, doon nabuntis si Carla and they get married.”
The project must really be something for Tom to give up his continuing role as Aiza Seguerra’s love interest in ABS-CBN’s hit morning soap, “Be Careful with My Heart”. “Nagpaalam naman ako ng maayos, nag-iyakan nga co-stars ko on my last taping day with them,” says Tom. “Pinalabas na lang na nag-abroad ang character ko. But mahirap tanggihan ang ‘My Husband’s Lover’. This is a lot of firsts for me. First soap ko sa GMA, first time ko to work with Carla, Dennis and Director Dom, first time ko to play a gay character. I really like the script which is very well written and I couldn’t just let it pass. I’m proud and honored to be part of the show. To be good in my role, I did a lot of research on my own and I found out that homosexual love is not really different from a heterosexual one. Gay lang sila but the feelings of loving and caring for the loved one are the same. Dennis as Eric and me as Vincent are genuinely in love with each other. Ang difference is that I have a wife and kid na love na love ko rin. Naging tao lang yung character ko na nagmahal sa misis niya at kapwa niya lalaki. Infidelity is wrong but I don’t want to judge Vincent. He’s just a human being at mahirap yung pinagdaanan niya. It’s not easy to hide who you really are, what you really feel.”
