Ria Atayde ready to take a chance on JM de Guzman

He is worth taking the chance for,” said actress Ria Atayde when reporters asked her to confirm the rumor that fellow ABS-CBN artist JM de Guzman is courting her.

However, Ria said she wasn’t sure of the actor’s real intentions.

“It’s hard to assume with this generation—labo-labo na kasi. It’s not like courtship in the past,” she said at a recent thanksgiving lunch she hosted with her brother Arjo and mom Sylvia Sanchez. “I feel more pressured whenever you (members of the media) are asking me about it. It’s like mas malaki ang issue kapag sa inyo. [But when we’re together], parang wala lang.”

The rumor between JM and Ria started when Arci Muñoz, JM’s good friend and leading lady in Eduardo Roy Jr.’s romantic comedy “Last Fool Show,” kept teasing the latter to Ria in one of their press conferences. JM even fanned the flames when he replied, during an ambush interview, that Ria “is someone I’d want to keep in my life forever.”

To this, Ria said: “I feel that if you have a connection with somebody no matter who he is, and if he has such a high value in your life, you’d truly want to keep him forever. I think that person is someone worth treasuring.”

The actress insisted that she and JM were simply “hanging out.” In fact, the two last saw each other at John Mayer’s concert in Hong Kong two weeks ago.

“As for the question ‘may pag-asa ba?’ I see no problem. We click. He is kind-hearted and respectful. Like me, he also loves his family so much; and yes, he is boyfriend material,” Ria pointed out.

JM entered a rehabilitation facility twice for drug dependence.

When asked what she thought of his “difficult past,” Ria replied: “I see no problem. I think he wouldn’t be the person he is now if he didn’t go through all of that. The person he is now is a good person and is worth giving the chance.”

However, she said they don’t see each other as often as people thought they do.

“We’re both busy. He isn’t someone who is fond of calling or sending text messages. We would communicate only when we feel like it,” she confessed. “Being single has been therapeutic for me. I’m able to focus on myself, able to explore more things. I feel like it’s been good for me.”

She added: “Having a relationship now would mean having less time for myself. It’s a matter of finding somebody who is worth breaking up with myself for. I hang out with a lot of couples. People would make fun of me on social media. Excuse me, ang sarap kayang maging single!”

As for the qualities she is looking for in a man, Ria said: “I have never liked someone because of his looks; as long as we click emotionally and mentally, as long as we have a connection.”