IN THE KNOW: Krista Miller

DRUG RAPS Actress Krista Miller, shown in a photo taken in 2014 (left), covers her face (right) as she walks to the police station after her arrest in Valenzuela City. She has been charged with peddling illegal drugs. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

KRISTA Miller gained nationwide attention because of her involvement in the separation of show biz couple Cesar Montano and Sunshine Cruz in 2013.

Cruz filed for the annulment of her 13-year marriage to Montano in April 2014.

The 39-year-old actress said that while she had had problems with Montano, 54, being romantically linked with other women, the actor’s alleged relationship with Miller was “the last straw.”

In an interview posted online in January 2013, Cruz’s talent manager, Alfie Lorenzo, said the affair between Montano and Miller was discovered by the couple’s three daughters.

Lorenzo said the girls were inside the car with their father when he received a romantic text message from Miller. They also saw the sexy photos that Miller sent to Montano’s phone and immediately told their mom about these, according to the talent manager.

Cruz, in a television interview in May 2014, said that should she and Miller meet each other, she would probably even “hug (Miller) and thank her for what she did. I was freed from that relationship because of her.”

Montano and Miller met while working on the biopic “The Turning Cradle: The Untold Story of Alfredo Lim” in 2013. Montano was its star, director and line producer.

This was shortly followed by a lead role in the gothic horror film “Hukluban,” opposite actor Kiko Matos with Gil Portes as director, released in 2014.

On the small screen, Miller was seen in the 2013 reality show “Boracay Bodies” produced by TV 5. She also figured in a controversy while on the show for allegedly allowing fellow contestant, Victor Silayan, to sleep in her room while they were on Boracay Island.

She denied romantic involvement with him in a TV interview in August 2013.

Controversial visit

Miller was tagged in another controversy in June 2014 when she visited convicted drug lord Ricardo “Chacha” Camata in a hospital outside New Bilibid Prison (NBP). Camata is the commander of the notorious Sigue-Sigue Sputnik gang.

In an interview with TV host Boy Abunda on June 10, 2014, for the show “Aquino and Abunda Tonight,” Miller said she had tried to sell a condominium unit to Camata, whom she already met four times at NBP before visiting him at the hospital.

She denied being involved in the flesh trade. “If I were, I would not resort to riding the MRT or a taxi to get to work just to earn money,” she told Abunda.

Miller said she felt hurt whenever people referred to her as a “starlet.”

“While the word really refers to an upcoming artist, it also has a negative connotation. One day people will also call me an actress. Right now, with all the challenges that I am going through, I want to be called a strong woman,” she said.