Here’s why Seth Fedelin and Francine Diaz finally shared an onscreen kiss in ‘A Cake to Remember’

Seth Fedelin and Francine Diaz have been working together for years. It took a story about a wedding cake for them to share their first onscreen kiss.

The kiss happens in A Cake to Remember, FranSeth’s vertical drama series now streaming on iWant. At the Star Magic Spotlight press conference on October 6, the two talked about why they agreed to the kiss and what it was like to act in a series where each episode lasts only a few minutes.

Francine plays Mandy, a pastry chef whose bakery is in trouble. A big wedding cake order could save her business, but there is a catch. The groom is Landon (Seth), the ex-fiancé who walked out on her on their wedding day, and he does not seem to remember their past. Mandy’s plan is to bake her way back into his memory before he walks down the aisle with another woman. The series is directed by Emerald Silvestre.

The show has been a hit online. ABS-CBN said its first five episodes had already drawn more than 7.5 million views by early September. Episodes are free to watch on iWant and on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s social media accounts.

FranSeth was a pairing that wasn’t something decided at the start of their careers. The two first shared the screen in Kadenang Ginto as part of the Gold Squad with Kyle Echarri and Andrea Brillantes. Back then, fans knew them as KyCine and SethDrea. Seth and Francine were officially teamed up in the 2023 series Dirty Linen. They went on to star in the iWantTFC thriller Fractured and the 2025 teleserye Sins of the Father. Their first movie together, My Future You, was an entry in the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival and earned Seth the Breakthrough Performance award.

Their past teleseryes were mostly heavy dramas. Seth said A Cake to Remember called for something lighter and easier to relate to. He compared it to the small pocketbooks many Filipinos used to read.

“Siguro, dito kasi sa story namin, magaan eh. Tapos galing kami sa ‘Sins of the Father,’ ‘Dirty Linen,’ ‘Kadenang Ginto.’ So, parang dito, mas na-ano namin na kumbaga digital pocketbook ‘to. ‘Yung mga sinaunang maliliit na libro na kadalasang nababasa doon, mas nakaka-relate ‘yung mga tao. So, kailangan lang natin na maging simple o maging relatable, na lahat ‘to pinagdadaanan, o may pinagdadaanan din ‘yung bawat tao. Makakapulot ng emotions sa bawat eksena natin kahit maikli,” Seth said.

For Francine, the biggest adjustment was the pacing. In a regular teleserye, actors have time to build up to a big scene. In a vertical series, the emotions have to come out right away.

“Parang in terms of rhythm sa emotions, parang kailangan mas buhos agad. Hindi katulad ng nakasanayan natin sa teleserye na may buwelo, meron kang time to process lahat ng punto ng emotion mo pati ng linya mo. Pero dito, since it’s vertical and it’s a micro series, parang buhos kung buhos. Kaya nakakatuwa rin siyang panoorin kasi parang laging nagsisigawan. Parang, ‘Lagi ang taas n’yo naman.’ Pero, ‘yun. Nakakatuwa rin siyang ma-experience kasi parang panibagong knowledge as an actor. So siguro, ‘yun lang po ‘yung naiba, ‘yung rhythm nga,” Francine shared.

The two said shooting a short series is harder than it looks. Each episode lasts only minutes and the scenes cut quickly, so Francine had to study every scene closely. She needed to know where each scene was coming from and where it was going.

“Ang napansin ko sa microseries, sa paggawa noon, siguro ‘yung buwelo mo is ‘yung alam mo ‘yung pinanggalingan nung eksena at saan siya papunta. Kasi ‘yun na ‘yung process ng emotions mo. Kasi parang, ang bilis nung cutting eh. Tapos ilang minutes lang. So parang may time ka rin na hinahabol. So parang mas ‘yun. Pag-aaralan talaga,” she said.

Seth said preparation still matters, no matter how short the story is. The shoot also had its own hardships, including the heat, the rain and the fatigue.

“At saka siyempre, ‘yung ganun kaikling kwento, ganun ka-short, pre, nagma-matter pa rin ‘yung preparation mo bago mo simulan ‘yung isang proyekto. So, ‘yun lang naman ‘yung mga challenges doon. Pagdating naman sa set, init, ulan. Kasi nung sinu-shoot namin siya, umuulan. ‘Yun lang naman ‘yung mga challenges doon, pagod,” Seth said.

As for the kiss, Seth said they had been asked in earlier projects what they were willing to do onscreen. He and Francine decided to save that moment for ABS-CBN.

“Pero ito kasi, totoo pong sagot. ‘Yung mga projects na ginawa namin before ng ‘A Cake to Remember,’ hinihingan kami ng kung ano kaya ang kaya naming gawin. Kaya naming mag-kiss sa [isang project]. Pero sabi namin, gusto namin na ibigay ‘yung ganung moment, siyempre, sa ABS-CBN. Totoo lang. Gusto namin ibigay ‘yun. Totoo. As in, ‘di kami gumagawa ng kuwento,” he said.

Seth added that a moment like that has to be in the right story, on the right show and on the right platform. He said they think these decisions through.

“Pero ‘yun ‘yung sa tingin namin. Saka nasa tamang kwento at tamang palabas, tamang plataporma ‘yung ganung bagay. Kumbaga, ina-analyze namin ‘yung mga ganung bagay,” he said.

In A Cake to Remember, Seth said the kiss was needed. Each episode is short, so viewers have to feel the story right away. He also pointed to the heartbreak at the center of the plot: a woman coming face to face with the man who left her on their wedding day.

“And dito, binigay namin dahil kailangan doon sa kwento. At kailangan, dahil maikli ‘to, kailangan namin ng something na, kahit maikli ‘to, dapat ito ‘yung mararamdaman ng tao eh, ‘di ba? Kung nakita mo ‘yung dapat mapapangasawa mo, tapos iniwan ka, hindi mo babalikan. So, ‘di ba, alam mo ‘yun? So, sa tingin ko, ano naman. At saka ‘yung pagkahalik ko naman doon, siguro nababagay naman sa script,” he added.

A Cake to Remember is streaming on iWant.