Heart Evangelista recalls playing matchmaker to John Prats, Isabel Oli

Heart Evangelista looked back at the time she played matchmaker to John Prats and Isabel Oli, saying she somehow had an idea about the blooming romance between them.

Evangelista recalled that she, too, brought Prats and Oli together on the April 9 broadcast of “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda,” suggesting she had an idea of the sparks between them at the time.

“Nag-uusap pa lang sila and nag-te-taping kami together ni Isabel Oli, and pini-pair ko sila (They were still talking, and while Isabel Oli would go on tapings, I would pair them up),” she said.

Evangelista and Prats used to be a popular love team in the late 90s to early 2000s, and then became part of the main cast of the ABS-CBN youth-oriented show G-mik (1999–2002). They also worked together in “G-mik,” “My First Romance,” and “Ang Tanging Ina.” While Oli was not part of the original G-Mik cast, Evangelista said she connected with Isabel during later, separate projects.

During the interview with Abunda, the Kapuso star also spoke about how she considers Prats her “first love,” though she doesn’t want to fully brand him as such because they were very young when they started dating. 

“Actually, never kong nabigay sa kanya ang koronang ‘yun kasi looking back, naisip ko na sobrang bata namin. Iniisip ko na pagmamahal ba ‘yun? Looking back and when I saw him again, I realized that I think I dethroned him by giving him the title of first love kasi pinaiyak niya ko ah,” she said.

(I actually never gave him that particular title because, looking back, we were so young. I was thinking if I truly fell in love. Looking back, when I saw him again, I realized that I think I dethroned him by giving him the title of first love because he still made me cry.)

She also compared the connection she has with Prats to the younger versions of Catherine and Heathcliff in the classic novel “Wuthering Heights,” where the connection was obviously there, but they were too immature.

“Parang kami ‘yung dalawang bata sa [‘Wuthering Heights’], brutal kami sa isa’t isa. So inisip ko, hindi naman ‘yun pagmamahal kasi parang brutal kami na ano. Kasi we grew up together [for] six years of my life,” she said. “From 13 to 20 or 19 kami ‘yung loveteam eh. Confusing kung work ba talaga siya or love. So that’s why I was confused in the first place. Pero maybe, tanungin natin siya.”

(I can say we were like the kids in “Wuthering Heights.” We were brutal to each other. So I was thinking I can’t consider that as love because it was brutal. We grew up together for six years of my life. We were in a love team from 13 to 19, or 20. It was confusing whether it was work or love. So that’s why I was confused in the first place. But maybe, let’s ask him.)

Still, the fashion personality is thankful for the experiences she had with Prats.

“Masaya kasi marami kaming na-experience together, so it was so nice to reconnect those moments. Parang walang lumipas na araw (I’m happy with what we’ve experienced together. It was so nice to reconnect to talk about those moments. It’s like no days passed),” she said. /edv