Ricci Rivero admits Andrea Brillantes saw him with a girl at his place, but clarifies: ‘Di sakin yung girl’
Ricci Rivero. Image: screengrab from YouTube/GMA Network
Ricci Rivero confirmed speculations that Andrea Brillantes saw him with a girl at his place, but he stressed that he had no relationship with the girl and that she was just a companion of one of the basketball player’s friends.
During an interview for “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda” on Monday, June 26, Rivero disclosed that he and Brillantes “took a break” sometime in April before they eventually decided to call it quits in the first week of May.
“Before anything else, marami na rin po kaming sinusubukang ayusin na problema personally. Hindi lang siya dahil sa may mali kasing ganito or may kasalanan, whatsoever, siguro do’n lang sa the way we are sa isa’t isa din,” he spoke of their “cool-off” in April. “Maraming pwedeng factors; it could be ‘yung maturity namin pareho.”
(Before anything else, we were already trying to fix a lot of personal problems. It was not because of anyone’s fault but maybe because of how we were to each other. There were a lot of factors, and it could be our maturity.)
“‘Yung cause ng breakup was ‘yung speculations na kumakalat sa social media, ‘yung may nakita siyang girl sa place ko,” he continued. “Pero ilang beses po namin pinag-usapan ito… na sinabi ko sa kanya with all the evidences I have… na hindi po sa akin ‘yung girl. May papuntang friend ako nang midnight tapos hindi ko naman alam na may kasama siya. ‘Yun yung inabutan [ni Andrea] that time.”
(The cause of the breakup was the speculations that were circulating on social media, that she saw a girl at my place. But we already talked about this several times and I told her, with all the evidence I have, that the girl was not with me. I had a friend who was set to go to my place at midnight and I did not know that he was bringing someone with him. That girl was the one Andrea saw that time.)
Rivero stressed that he explained the situation to Brillantes, who he revealed took the video of the incident that made rounds on social media, and that the two of them were apparently able to resolve the misunderstanding.
“Alam ko po na naniniwala siya sa akin kasi even after that, nag-uusap at nagkikita pa rin kami. Maayos kami, as in ‘yung usual us na walang away, walang taasan ng boses,” he said.
(I know he believed me because even after that, we talked and spent time together. We were OK and we were the usual us, no arguments and no one raised their voice.)
Rivero then addressed the third-party accusations against him and beauty queen-turned-politician Leren Mae Bautista, with the basketball player saying that the latter had no involvement in his breakup with Brillantes. Rivero further talked about the photo of him that Bautista posted and later removed from her Instagram Stories.
“Walang kadeny-deny do’n sa picture but pag-post niya po kasi, sobrang daming bash agad and hate messages,” Rivero said. “So siguro, ‘yung fear na ma-misinterpret ng tao dahil hindi naman po out ‘yung breakup namin [ni Andrea] kaya [Leren] took the [Instagram Story] down.”
(There was nothing to deny in the picture but when she posted it, there were a lot of bashing and hate messages. So maybe, Leren took the Instagram Story down because she feared that the public might misinterpret it, given that my breakup with Andrea was not yet revealed to the public at the time.)
Rivero also dismissed speculations that he has a gay boyfriend, but noted that he looks up to a lot of people around him who are part of the LGBTQIA community.
Rivero then disclosed during the interview that it was Brillantes who asked him not to immediately announce their breakup to the public.
“Ang naisip kong reason—hindi ko na rin natanong e—pero ‘yung akin, ang dami nang tumatakbo sa isip namin pareho e. It’s a breakup. Mabigat na ‘yung nararamdaman namin pareho so why add ‘di ba,” the basketball player said.
(I think the reason—because I was not able to ask her—was that there was already a lot going on in our minds. It’s a breakup. It was already hard for both of us, so why would we [make it harder], right?)
“Siguro sana maintindihan lang din ng fans na it’s not an easy way din for us to share to people na gano’n ‘yung nangyari sa amin,” he added. (I hope the fans will understand that it was not easy for us to share what happened to us.)
Rivero further pointed out that he did not use Brillantes as a “trophy girlfriend,” adding that he even refused offers of interviews and shows with the actress.
“Ayoko rin naman pong parang i-connect ‘yung trabaho sa personal relationship ko. Sa akin sobrang genuine lang nung lahat e,” he noted. “Wala sa isip ko ‘yung mga ganyan bagay kasi parang minsan na lang ako mag-girlfriend, bakit sa ganyang paraan ko pa gagawin?”
(I didn’t want to involve work in my personal relationship. Everything was genuine for me. Such things didn’t cross my mind because I do not often enter romantic relationships. Why would I do it for that purpose?)
Rivero confirmed his breakup with Brillantes last June 9, as he asked the public to respect their decision to keep it private and “preserve what’s left of [their] friendship.” Brillantes then later confessed that while she was doing OK, she still was not fully healed from her heartbreak. /ra
