Ken now ready to step away from tandem with Rita

Ken Chan (left) and Rita Daniela

Ken Chan’s recent pairing with Bianca Umali had many fans wondering: Does this signal the end of Ken’s love team with Rita Daniela?

As it turned out, the “RitKen” tandem may have already done its last series together.

“Before we did our previous soap opera ‘Ang Dalawang Ikaw,’ GMA 7 already told us that it might be our last one together,” Ken revealed in a recent Zoom conference for “Her Big Boss,” the rom-com second installment of the GMA 7-Regal Entertainment series “Mano Po Legacy.”

“We weren’t shocked. We weren’t surprised about what happened. We already knew how our careers would pan out because it was explained to us,” added the Kapuso actor, who found success with Rita in the afternoon show “My Special Tatay” in 2018. They then headlined the romantic drama “One of the Baes” in 2019, and the 2021 Metro Manila Film Festival movie “Huling Ulan sa Tag-Araw.”

Happy for each other

This is the first time in three years that the two Kapuso stars aren’t doing a series together. Nonetheless, Ken and Rita remain happy for each other’s new career prospects.

“I’m very happy that she gets to do projects without me, and she feels the same way for me. She’s happy and proud of me, especially when she learned that I will be working with Bianca. She supports our show,” the 29-year-old actor related. “It’s something we have already talked about before—that there will come a point when something like this will happen.”

Doing a show without Rita, Ken admitted, needed some getting used to.

“Nakakapanibago siya. But Bianca was a big help. She gave me a lot of advice since she’s someone who was also in a love team (with Miguel Tanfelix) before starring in different series with different partners,” he said.In any case, Ken believes that this development in his and Rita’s careers will be beneficial in the long run.

“I think it can also be healthy when you’re not stuck in one love team because you get to work with different artists. The work you do and the stories aren’t limited,” he said. “We will be able to explore more.”