Jake Cuenca finds a keeper

JAKE Cuenca with girlfriend Chanel Olive Thomas. He plans to go to Australia to meet her parents.

“She’s a keeper,” actor Jake Cuenca said of Australian-Filipino fashion model Chanel Olive Thomas, his girlfriend of two months.

“I’m happy when I’m with her,” Jake told entertainment writers during the recent “National Makeover Day” organized by the cosmetics brand HBC at Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

Jake and Chanel met three months ago through a female high school classmate of his. Life with a non-show biz girlfriend is “refreshing,” he said.

“When she came to Manila, she had no idea who I was. She had seen one of my billboards but, to her, I was just another model. When you’re a celebrity, may konting leverage ka sa panliligaw. With Chanel, I had none. Now, she watches my teleserye, even though I play a villain,” said the cast member of ABS-CBN’s drama series “Ikaw Lamang.”

They dated for a month and then, he recounted, “I invited her on a trip to Bali—it was so romantic. I asked her to be my girlfriend and she said yes. No, I have not proposed marriage. Her family is in Australia. I may go there with her when ‘Ikaw Lamang’ ends, to meet them.”

Chanel is said to be a dead ringer for actress Jessy Mendiola, whom Jake once courted. “She doesn’t mind hearing that,” he said. “She finds Jessy very pretty.”

He appreciates positive comments about his performance on “Ikaw Lamang,” which also features Coco Martin, Kim Chiu and Julia Montes. “It’s flattering to know that I’m an effective kontrabida,” he said.

Jake denied a rumored conflict on the set between Coco and erstwhile cast member Cherie Gil. “There was never a problem,” he insisted. “Tita Cherie had to be with her children (in New York City). She was really going to be in the cast only up till that point. We even had a farewell dinner for her.”

He and Coco get along well, too, Jake insisted. “Sometimes we would discuss certain aspects of the show, but that’s part of our creative process. We collaborate, but always give each other space.”