Actress Nadine Lustre candidly shared her thoughts on the idea of falling in love again with a love team partner, revealing that it is not something she sees herself doing again in the future.
Nadine was previously in a real-life relationship with her former on-screen partner James Reid. Together, the two became one of the country’s most popular love teams as JaDine, starring in several hit projects including Diary ng Panget and On The Wings of Love. The pair officially announced their breakup in January 2020 after being together for nearly four years.
In 2022, Nadine confirmed that she had found love again and is now happily in a relationship with Filipino-French businessman Christopher Bariou, whom she met in Siargao.
During her interview with Karen Davila for her new series Love, Siargao alongside Alden Richards, Nadine reflected on where she currently stands in her career, especially now that she has been navigating the entertainment industry on her own rather than as part of a love team.
At one point in the conversation, the actress became honest about the possibility of falling in love again with someone she is paired with on-screen, with her maintaining that she has no intention of going through that experience again.
“Huwag na!” Nadine expressed.
“Tsaka alam mo naman yan nangyari na yan. Huwag na natin ulitin,” she said, drawing laughter from Karen.
While she admitted that being romantically involved with a love team partner is definitely possible, Nadine emphasized that she is very content with her current relationship with Chris.
“That’s not impossible naman based on experience. But I think now kasi, you know naman, I’m very happy with where I’m at,” she maintained. “Ito talaga, itaga niyo sa bato, if Chris and I break up, ayoko nang mag-jowa.”
“Pagod na ko,” she said laughing. “But really, I told myself na ‘if this is not the last relationship that I will have, I probably gonna be single for the rest of my life. We’ll see, but for now kasi it’s really my career, Chris, family, the environment, and the animals [that I focus on].”
The actress went on to share how much she values what she has now, saying it is rare to find someone who shares the same mindset and values that matter to her.
“I think it’s hard to find someone like Chris. [He’s someone who has the] same mindset, same values [as me], and someone who’s very caring for everything that’s around him,” she shared. “Mahirap humanap ng tao na makaka-[sundo] ko with everything. Parang in sync kami in everything, and to me right now, it’s very important.”
During the same interview, Nadine also reflected on whether she ever feared how her career would be affected after no longer working as part of a love team. According to her, that concern was never really something she dwelled on.
“I didn’t really think of that because I didn’t think it was going to happen,” she stated.
“When I started working on other projects without him, everything was okay. It was just really more of ‘Okay, I will do my thing and he will do his thing.’ Tapos we’ll still continue working together," she continued.
Asked about how difficult it was to move on from a breakup that unfolded under public scrutiny, Nadine admitted it was one of the hard things she had to go through.
“Mahirap,” she described. “For sure, it was a lot. I mean, I’m not going to lie, the relationship itself on-screen and off-screen was really — everyone is always watching eh, every move. Everyone is so opinionated. It’s like we were in a fishbowl and there was really no room for mistakes.”
The actress also shared that unlike how she usually processes difficult situations, she eventually allowed herself to simply let go and accept what happened.
“Parang hindi ko na siya inisip further after the break up. I just kind of let it at that. In some way, I kind of gave myself na rin that grace to kind of just ‘Okay na yan. Tapos na.’ Which is not me, normally. Gusto ko yung hinihimay ko yung nangyayari...I like to get to the bottom of things. But for some reason, for this one, I kind of just like ‘Okay, it’s done’,” she said.
Now, Nadine stars opposite Alden in the romantic drama series Love, Siargao, marking the first time the two actors have worked together on a project. The story follows Jao and Kara, whose lives unexpectedly intersect in the famous surfing destination.
Love, Siargao is currently streaming on Viu and also features Kim Ji-soo, Kyline Alcantara, Gab Lagman, Coleen Garcia, Kakki Teodoro, Adrian Lindayag, AZ Martinez, Vince Maristela, and Christopher Diwata.