Leren Mae Bautista and Ricci Rivero were guests on “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda” last Friday, February 16, to open up on their relationship: how it started, how they deal with the haters, and what their thoughts on marriage are.
The couple, who admitted their relationship to the public last October 2023, shared that their love story began when they first met in person during an outreach feeding program in Laguna.
Despite Los Baños Municipal Councilor’s initial impression of Ricci as just another celebrity who’s a total snob, it all changed when she witnessed how he had helped out to bring joy to the less fortunate kids during the outreach.
“‘Yung pumunta siya doon to help our community and to have a very meaningful birthday celebration para doon sa mga bata and doon sa tao po sa Los Baños, it was really different kasi hindi naman po lahat ganoon ‘yung ginagawa,” she said.
From there they began to do “small talk” and quickly found out just how fun it was to be around each other. Ricci also admitted that it was he who made the first move and confessed his feelings for Leren first.
When asked by Tito Boy if they were considering marriage in the future after bringing up Ricci’s social media post before calling Leren “The Right One,” the couple confirmed thaat they have talked about it and expressed hope that their path will head down that road eventually.
“Sana Tito Boy. Kinakabahan ako pero sana,” said Ricci.
Leren agreed: ““Same feeling, nakakakaba. Kasi, it’s a big commitment.”
“Kami Tito Boy may mga napag-usapan na rin kami, even ‘yung friends namin na na-engaged or nagpaplano ng kasal. Same kami na hindi naman siya doon sa tagal or what. Mas ma-fe-feel niyo naman kung kilala niyo na ‘yung isa’t isa deeper,” Ricci added. “Mayroon din kasi siyempre, kunwari masaya kayo ngayon. Pero what if may challenges, how do you guys deal with that, and how badly you want to make it work? Doon mo naman ma-fe-feel kung ito magwo-work kahit na anong mangyari, kahit magkaroon kami ng problems or what.”
Leren continued: “Kung ma-feel mo na rin talaga na okay ka na with your partner, I think hindi naman kailangan ng long engagement, as long as kailangan pagbutihin niyo rin ang relationship. Kasi hindi naman palagi okay, hindi naman palagi masaya. Feeling ko naman ang long o short engagement depende ‘yun sa kung ano ang gusto talaga. But for me, kahit ano naman doon, basta ramdam naman namin and napag-usapan naman kung ready na ba talaga kami to really commit.”
(ALSO READ: Ricci Rivero Confirms Relationship With Leren Mae Bautista, Calls Her “The Right One”)
The couple has been on the receiving end of criticisms ever since rumors that they were dating surfaced online. Many netizens alleged that the beauty queen-turned-politician was the reason behind the basketball player’s controversial breakup with Andrea Brillantes. Both Ricci and Leren remained adamant that their relationship did not overlap with Ricci’s time with Andrea, however.
Watch the full video below:
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