Leren Bautista insists no overlapping with Andrea Brillantes over Ricci Rivero

(From left) Ricci Rivero, Leren Bautista, and Andrea Brillantes. Image: Instagram/@lerenmaebautista, Instagram/@blythe

Leren Bautista once again insisted that her relationship with basketball player Ricci Rivero didn’t overlap with his ex-girlfriend Andrea Brillantes, and that the pro-league basketball rookie was single when he participated in an outreach activity in Laguna with the beauty-queen politician in May 2023.

The Los Baños councilor addressed rumors that Rivero had two-timed his then girlfriend Brillantes spoke about her relationship with Rivero in an interview with fashion designer Renee Salud on the latter’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, Feb. 14, where she addressed the rumors.

“Ang alam ko, noong nag-meet kami sa feeding program na ‘yun, wala na po sila. Sa tanong niyo po kung single [or taken ba kami], alam ko single po ako. Siya ay single din that time,” said Bautista, when asked if they were single during the aforementioned outreach program.

In October 2023, Rivero that confirmed he and Bautista are in a relationship amid third-party and cheating allegations hounding his split with Brillantes in June of the same year.

But in the interview with Salud, Bautista said their involvement shouldn’t be questioned because they were focused on doing their jobs. “We just wanted to finish the feeding program. There wasn’t anything more than friends- or relationship-related at the time.”

“It’s very clear noong nagkakilala kami, single siya from what I know. Ako po, single po ako. It’s purely for the feeding program and charity itself. ‘Yun lang talaga,” she continued. (It’s very clear that when we met, he was single from what I know. I was single too. It’s purely for the feeding program and charity itself. That’s it.)

‘Sana hindi ko na-delete’

Weeks after the outreach activity, Bautista was accused of being Rivero’s other woman after a photo of the baller was posted on the former beauty queen’s Instagram Story. She, however, stressed it had “no malice at all.”

“Sa mga naging viral noon sa Instagram, there was no malice at all. Ang mali ko lang since noong pagka-upload, ang daming nag-message agad sa’kin, nagulat ako. Ang mali ko was na-delete ko, sana hindi ko pala na-delete,” she said.

Image: Instagram/@lerenmaebautista via @ricciiirivero

(In the photo that went viral on Instagram, there was no malice at all. My mistake was getting too caught up in the shock after uploading the photo. Many people messaged me at that time. My mistake was deleting it right away. I shouldn’t have done that.)

The former beauty queen, however, said people would “say anything” whether she would delete the particular photo or not.

Leren and Ricci’s romance

Bautista said her romance with Rivero developed at the height of the cheating allegations thrown at him, which allowed them to know each other better.

“Noong nag-start kami after ng issue, mas nakilala namin ang isa’t isa kasi nakakapag-usap na kami. Mas nakikilala ko ang personality niya at mas nakikilala niya ako as a person. Kasama na d’un [‘yung pag-deal] namin sa issue,” she said.

(We got to know one another during the issue itself. We found out more about each other when we started to talk. I discovered more of his personality and he knew more about me as a person. Part of that was dealing with the issue together.)

(From left) Leren Bautista, Ricci Rivero. Image: Facebook/The UAAP

The Laguna-based politician said Rivero is a “family-oriented and God-fearing” partner who’s a good person once people get to know him.

“Sobrang hirap magsalita on my part since nagkaroon na ng misunderstanding, nabigyan agad ng meaning, at may kanya-kanyang interpretations,” she said. “Kung makikita si Ricci ng mga tao outside social media, kung makikilala niyo si Ricci nang personal, hindi mo mararamdaman na kailangan kong ma-insecure [sa ibang babae].”

(It’s hard to speak up on my part because understandings were already made. Other people added different meanings and interpretations already. If people got to know him outside social media, if you know him personally, you will know why I don’t need to feel insecure when he’s with other women.)

Rivero and Brillantes were together for about a year before confirming their breakup in June 2023. The baller said the actress tried to reconcile with him the month before the confirmation, but he felt that he no longer want to be with her anymore.