No pressure from EA’s 7-year relationship

Edgar Allan “EA” Guzman (left) with girlfriend Shaira Diaz

It took actor Edgar Allan “EA” Guzman seven long years to publicly admit that actress Shaira Diaz is his girlfriend because, he said, he was concerned about how it would affect his career.

“We both care about our work as actors. For the longest time, I was focused on the idea that if people knew about our relationship, our producers wouldn’t give us projects or would not assign us to love teams,” he told Inquirer Entertainment during the press conference for his latest movie, “Mia.”

“It’s just now that I realize people would still accept us even if we’re already committed to each other, that it will not affect our work in any way,” he added.

EA then belied talks that he has already proposed marriage to Shaira and that the pictures he posted on Instagram a few months ago were actually prenup photos.

“It’s not true,” he declared. “She is turning only 25 years old this year, so she isn’t ready to settle down just yet. That’s a good thing for me because I don’t feel pressured. I’m not yet ready to take the relationship to that level, either. What happened was that we took photos when we went to the US (in Virginia) for a vacation recently. She stayed with her relatives there, and I met up with mine,” he explained.

Shaira also joined EA’s family on a trip to Hong Kong last December. “I’m thrilled that I’m now able to post family photos with her included. That’s why I captioned my last one with ‘Finally, we’re complete!’ The trip was my birthday gift to my mom,” he shared with Inquirer Entertainment.

EA said that unlike the comments that have been going around, it’s not true that he would often neglect his work whenever he falls in love with a girl. “Sabi lang nila ’yon. I’ve been in love with the same person for seven years. If I were neglectful, I probably won’t be in show biz anymore today,” he pointed out. “I admit that I’ve been immature and had made decisions that were not well thought out, but they were never about my work. If they were, then I would have probably quit acting by now and simply focused on my love life. That’s the point that I want to prove now.”

EA said that while settling down was still very far from his mind, he would sometimes discuss it with Shaira. “Thinking about getting married is different from actually wanting to get married. She’s just starting in the business, and I want to support her career by letting her be,” he added.

The actor recently signed up with Arnold Vegafria’s talent management company called ALV Talent Circuit and with GMA 7’s Artist Center. “I’m thankful that the network is giving me the right projects,” he said. “I also asked permission if we could post pictures and they agreed. They just made me promise not to do it often, only when there’s a special occasion. I understand where they’re coming from. I will also do my part in protecting my career,” said EA.

He clarified that there was no bad blood between him and his former manager, Noel Ferrer. “I consider him my second father,” EA said. “I’m already 30 and am not getting any younger. I can’t be too complacent. I need to offer something new to my supporters. In fact, we just met each other last Thursday to discuss important stuff.”

An innovation from EA is hosting, which he did for the first time at the 2019 Miss World pageant last September. “I’m also venturing into composing songs. I’ve already done one for Shaira. We just haven’t recorded it yet. I will also start my own blog, which ALV promised to help me with. I’m happy that I will get to do other things, not only acting, singing and dancing.”

While Shaira is also an ALV talent, EA swore that she did not influence his decision to join ALV’s turf. “I also met with other talent managers. I just liked what ALV offered to me. It’s the career path I’m interested in taking. So far so good,” he said. In Veronica Velasco’s “Mia” (in cinemas on Jan. 15), EA plays Jay, whose advocacy is to save mined-out lands and transform them into rain forests. He also tries to “save” Mia (played by Coleen Garcia), who is a self-destructive alcoholic. She turns to alcohol in her struggle to recover from the tragedy of her fiancé’s death.