Gretchen Barretto will not attend Julia's debut

Gretchen Barretto will not be attending the debut of her niece Julia Barretto on Tuesday, March 10.

The 45-year-old actress has flown to London early Monday morning to be with her daughter and some friends for a month-long celebration of her own birthday. She turned a year older on March 6.

When asked by ABS-CBN News on Sunday night at the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Gretchen said she'd rather not talk about her non-attendance at Julia's 18th birthday celebration.

"I don’t want to talk about it. I demand respect. Tonight is my night. The birthday of Julia will be her night. Let’s give it to her and let’s give it to me," she was quoted as saying.

There are rumors, however, that Gretchen has a current misunderstanding with sister Marjorie (Julia's mom) because of her open support of Liza Soberano.

Liza and Julia are said to be "showbiz rivals" especially that the latter used to be teamed up with Enrique Gil, who is now the current love team of the former.

Meanwhile, Julia made showbiz headlines when she posted a photo of herself with dad Dennis Padilla on Instagram. The father and daughter had a misunderstanding which stemmed from Julia's legal petition to drop Dennis' surname and just use her mom's on the ground of being, allegedly, an illegitimate child. Dennis was reportedly married to another woman when he tied the knot with Marjorie, making their marriage null and void.

Julia reconnected with her dad to invite him to her debut. Dennis took the opportunity to talk to Julia and explain to her some things which eventually changed the teen star's mind about her legal petition.

The "Mirabella" actress also recently confirmed that her other aunt Claudine Barretto, who is not in good terms with Gretchen and Marjorie, will be attending her debut.

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