MANILA, Philippines — Alden Richards became emotional as he discussed past heartbreaks and the lessons he learned from his experiences in love during the pilot episode of “Gandang Gabi Vice (GGV)” on Sunday.
The actor opened up about his longtime search for a romantic partner, admitting that he had spent years looking for someone he could consider “the one.”
“For the longest time, I’ve been looking for the one,” Richards said.
But after reflecting on his past experiences, Alden said he is now willing to take a different approach to finding love.
“Maybe, for a change, I’ll just wait for that person to come,” he said.
Richards then reflected on what he realized he had been missing while looking for love from another person.
“For the longest time, I’ve been looking for love from another person, and I realized that what I was lacking was self-love,” he said while crying.
“It took so long. I only realized it now,” he added.
He also talked about a previous relationship with a showbiz personality but chose not to reveal the person’s identity out of respect for her privacy. He said both of them eventually pulled away from the relationship, although he acknowledged that he was the one who stepped back more.
The experience left Richards with a different perspective on relationships, particularly on making firm decisions about what could or could not happen in the future.
“Ang one thing na natutunan ko sa whatever happened with that relationship is to never say never. Huwag mong bigyan ng ultimatum 'yung sarili mo dahil sobrang saya mo sa sitwasyon. Kinain ko 'yung mga sinabi ko no’n,” he said.
(One thing I learned from whatever happened with that relationship is to never say never. Don’t give yourself an ultimatum just because you’re so happy with the situation. I ended up going against the things I said before.)
Instead of putting pressure on himself to find a partner, Richards said he is prepared to wait for the right person to come along.
“Hindi ko sinasabing hindi ko hinihintay 'yung taong darating para sa akin. Kasi for the longest time, hinahanap ko 'yung para sa akin, so baka for a change, hintayin ko naman siya ngayon.” (I’m not saying that I’m not waiting for the person who will come into my life. Because for the longest time, I’ve been looking for the person meant for me, so maybe, for a change, I’ll wait for that person now.)
He also remained optimistic about finding love, pointing out the sheer number of people in the world.
“Seven billion [people in the world], imposibleng walang isa doon na para sa akin,” he added. (Seven billion people in the world — it’s impossible that there isn’t one person among them who is meant for me.)
In a post via X, Vice Ganda revealed that Richards' breakdown during their conversation had lasted almost 10 minutes.
“That breakdown took almost 10 minutes. And parang ayaw ko ng ituloy yung interview kasi awang-awa ako sa kanya. Grabe yung iyak nya. But he insisted to still continue. Haaaayyy!!! love you Alden!” he wrote on X. (That breakdown took almost 10 minutes. And I almost didn’t want to continue the interview because I felt so sorry for him. He was crying so hard. But he insisted on continuing.)
Richards immediately responded to the host’s message with, “Love you, Vice.”
“Gandang Gabi Vice,” a collaboration between GMA Network and ABS-CBN airs Sundays at 10 p.m.
