MANILA, Philippines — Actress and singer Maris Racal aired her side surrounding the alleged cheating controversy with co-star and love team partner Anthony Jennings in an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN News on Friday, December 6.
With tears in her eyes, Maris began by “taking accountability for everything,” admitting she made a mistake. “I want to say sorry for everything that I have done,” she said, recounting her timeline of events starting in June. She said she “was in a very dark place” then.
“I was lonely and I was getting attention from Anthony. It was the kind of attention I needed at the time,” Racal said. She said that she allowed her emotions to take over once she felt a “brewing attraction” with Jennings.
“I knew it was wrong. I came clean right away. I told my ex everything and admitted my mistakes. We broke up, which was not easy for me,” she added. She announced her split with singer Rico Blanco in July.
“Announcing the breakup was very hard. When I gave that emotional interview, I was holding back the truth. I wasn’t able to fully reflect on what was happening,” she said because she was “constantly working” for months on end.
She told Jennings about her breakup, and he said the same thing — that he was single. Racal recounts that she was in a very “vulnerable and lonely place” then.
She admits that she “fell” for Anthony soon after, having worked together every day for their series Incognito.
“He would be very sweet to me. He would be such a gentleman to me. He would say things to me. He would tease me on the set in front of other people. He would tell all the people who were close to me that he was single. I was confident to act a certain way around him on the set. Because in the eyes of the people there, we were both single,” Racal said.
In September, the connection deepened, Racal said, after they went to Italy to shoot for Incognito and spent more time together.
“By the time we were heading back, it was my birthday, and we were stuck at the airport all day. He said sweet things and made promises,” she added. She said she felt so happy that she felt like posting something on her Instagram Story to appreciate him for that date.
A few days after, Racal saw cryptic TikTok reposts from Jam Villanueva, the ex-girlfriend of Jennings. At that time, Racal said she reached out to ask how Jam was doing because she believed Anthony was helping her through medical concerns, not because she knew they were still together.
At that time, she repeatedly asked Anthony if they had reconciled, and he assured her they hadn’t. He allegedly told Racal he didn’t love her anymore and that he wanted to be with Racal.
The “first wave of bashing” began on Tiktok, Racal said, which urged her to ask Jennings to finally release an official statement on his break-up.
“Because in the eyes of the public, you are taken. But I know that you’re not. You were supposed to be very sweet to me. When are you gonna release a statement? He would tell me: he was waiting for the right moment,” Racal said.
“I didn’t want to be pushy. I didn’t want to aggravate things. So I waited and kept quiet. Cause it wasn’t my story to tell anyway.”
On Halloween, they both went out and were sweet to each other in public. The next day, Jam posted on her Instagram Story. While no names were mentioned, Racal said that people started assuming it was about her and Jennings, and the online scrutiny began again.
“At those times, I begged for a statement. I begged him to fix this because I was so tired of getting bashed. And he said, wait. He’s waiting for the right moment,” she added.
Racal said she waited and kept quiet, even if she wanted to speak up. Since it wasn’t her story to tell, she said she “would look really pathetic.”
Days after, during the press conference for Incognito, Jennings released a statement. However, Racal said it was “too late” for her already, because by then, she was “slowly distancing [herself] from him romantically. The infatuation and the attraction died.”
Then the screenshots were leaked. Racal said she read it on Tuesday evening, December 3, at 10 pm.
“When I read it, I was gutted. I was shocked. And I’m truly, truly embarrassed,” Racal said, about the fact that people saw her private conversations without her consent and against her will. She read the screenshots “over and over again.”
“It was the perfect narrative… That there was this other woman, that there was this apologetic boyfriend, and the avoidant boyfriend towards the other woman, and the scorned woman,” Racal said.
“That’s the narrative. That’s her side of the story. And there’s nothing wrong with that. This is my side. This is my side. And I’ve been reading those screenshots,” she added, understanding Jennings’ silence in hindsight — “because they were still together all this time.” Racal said she was in the dark.
“Now I understand Jam’s pain, her anger, wrath, and her reactions. Because she was clueless about everything. I was clueless about everything,” she added.
“Maybe iba yung sinabi sa kanya. And I can attest that iba yung sinasabi sa akin.” (Maybe he was telling her something else. I can attest that he was telling me something else, too).
In shame, Racal apologized to the public that they had to see that “very intimate side of [hers].” She said that that’s just how she is when she cares for someone, and it was supposed to remain a private and intimate thing.
“I don’t want to play the victim here. Nagkamali din talaga ako. (I did commit a mistake.) And I want to say sorry to those people I have hurt.”
Racal said she reached out to Jam last November to check in on her but didn’t get a reply.
“Most especially, I’m very sorry. I’m truly sorry to those people who supported me. For 10 years. Alam nila lahat (They know everything),” Racal said, adding that she’s worked so hard to get where [she is] with [their] help.
“I don’t know where I’m gonna go. I don’t know saan ako papunta. Yung dignidad ko. (Where will I go… and my dignity) Whenever I go, I walk – I feel like I’m a naked woman walking. Di ko nalam ano gagawin ko. (I don’t know what to do.) I’m so embarrassed. And I’m sorry that you get to see that,” she tearfully added. But she assures the public that she will continue the fight and work hard, even if it’s difficult.
“Hindi pa rin namamatay yung apoy sa puso ko. (The fire is still in my heart.) I’m still looking for that little girl inside of me. It’s hard to look for her now. Despite this, I will get to find her. And I will be able to hold my shadows.
“What you saw was not a perfect human. I’m far, far from being perfect. What you saw was a human being. I’m just a human being.”
Villanueva and Jennings had been together for seven years before their breakup.
Racal and Jennings were onscreen partners in the Netflix series Can’t Buy Me Love, where they starred as Irene and Snoop, respectively, and later became known as “SnoRene” when their love team captured the public’s attention. – Rappler.com