Ellen Adarna favors living in before marriage: ‘I-test drive mo muna’

Image: Instagram/@maria.ellen.adarna

Ellen Adarna said she believes that there is nothing wrong with living in with a partner before marriage, and that there are advantages to “test-driving” a relationship.

“‘Yung parents ko (My parents) are not conservative. When I was 18, I was kicked out of the house,” she said to Pia Wurtzbach, Carla Lizardo and Bianca Guidotti in the April 16 episode of the Spotify podcast “Between Us Queens.”

She also recalled that she was encouraged by her father to live with her boyfriend at the time so she can get to know him.

“He wanted us to get to know our partner, get to know what we want and what we don’t want,” she added.

Adarna admitted that she has lived with all of her boyfriends and she thinks that she does not really know a person unless they cohabitate.

“If I don’t live in with the person, I think, ‘I don’t know him. Oh my god, how will I get to know him? How will I get to know the truth?’ Because it’s really different when you’re in the same house,” she said.

“Let’s say if you’re going to marry him. OK na ‘yang i-test drive mo muna bago mo bilhin,” she added. (Let’s say if you’re going to marry him. It’s OK to give it a test drive before you buy it.)

Adarna also looked back at her past boyfriends and noted that she had a habit of not expressing her feelings. But in her relationship with fiance Derek Ramsay, she said she learned to communicate those feelings in a healthy way.

“I always had that pattern. I wouldn’t open up. When I met Derek, I was better at expressing myself, and things just went very smoothly,” she said.

Adarna and Ramsay confirmed their relationship on Feb. 26. Ramsay proposed marriage on March 30, after a month of being a couple. They said that they plan to tie the knot this year. JB

RELATED STORIES:

Derek to Ellen after she accepted marriage proposal: ‘When I touch you, I embrace love’

Ellen Adarna, Derek Ramsay to get married this year, recall their ‘awkward’ first kiss