Bella is a special dog because she has not one, but two celebrity parents! Her owners, Melissa Gallo and David Fumero, are former co-stars of ABC’s soap opera One Life to Live. The couple met on the set and dated for over three years before getting married in December of 2007. Bella is their baby – their 120 pound, Dogue de Bordeaux baby.
David Fumero loves the Dogue de Bordeaux breed. He says,
“They’re athletic because they can run around and play, but then they’re also chillers.” He describes Bella as an “everything’s cool” kind of dog. However, despite her chill attitude, both of her owners agreed that, if she was a character on One Life to Live, she would be Natalie Buchanan. They noted her “sassy”, “tough”, and “a little bit spoiled” characteristics.
If Bella was Natalie, though, she would have little contact with Fumero’s character Cristian Vega. Cristian is the “nice guy” of One Life, who epitomizes the phrase: “Good guys finish last.” Melissa Gallo notes the “nice”, “sweet”, and “very loyal” character traits that her husband shares with his character, but says that, besides that, they are “very very different.” She compares her husband to a French Mastiff instead, because they are both “tough and strong and good protector[s]” as well as “gentle, sweet, and mushy.”
Interestingly, Gallo’s character, Adriana Cramer was Cristian Vega’s cousin on the show. The real-life married couple shared a giggle over being “kissing cousins.” Gallo worked on One Life for over four years before recently leaving the cast.
Bella isn’t allowed on the set because of regulations, but the actors recently got to work with a Shih Tzu who played Tina Lord’s dog. The dog’s storyline revolved around him stealing jewels, and his name – David Vickers – being the same as a hu- man character’s. David Fumero is hoping to get Bella cast on One Life as his character’s dog. He thinks Bella would be a great “junkyard dog”.
Bella loves food, her favorite snack being ham and cheese.
Her hearing is so finely tuned that she comes running whenever one of her owners opens the cold cut drawer in the refrigerator.
She also loves visiting Gallo’s parents in New Jersey, since she can run in the yard, swim in the pool, and get doted on by her grandparents.
Bella knows she has ‘one life to live’, and she is living it well!
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