Kapamilya actress Maris Racal announced on Friday that she and her boyfriend, singer-composer Rico Blanco, have ended their relationship.
“Rico and I are over,” she stated during the Star Magic Spotlight event when asked about balancing her personal life and fame, particularly concerning her on-screen partner Anthony Jennings after their project in “Can’t Buy Me Love.”
“I’m so scared, I’m really scared,” Racal expressed emotionally to the media. “Ang dami kasing tanong about him and I am tired of smiling and nodding.”
“I’m so scared because if I announce it, it’s real,” she added.
Racal revealed that the breakup occurred a few weeks ago. “It’s fresh. It’s been a few weeks and (it’s) been the loneliest, emptiest weeks I experienced in my life,” she shared.
Reflecting on her five-year relationship with Blanco, Racal described it as filled with love and joy, which she thought would last forever.
“Rico and I, our universe is so beautiful. It was full of love, laughter, and music, and everything—spontaneity, everything. Sa five years namin together, we were always on the same page. I don’t know what happened to me. Maybe I turned to the next page, saw a new perspective sa life. I had a vision of who I want to become, how I want to evolve. I’m so curious about the world, and the truth is I am going through changes, and alam naman natin na changes either good or bad and what I hate about change is it’s inevitable. Hindi mo siya matatakasan and wala ka nang ibang gagawin kung ‘di to face it and confront it,” she explained.
“I told Rico about it and my problems, my issues sa buhay, and he took it like a man,” she noted.
While she didn’t provide specifics on how the separation occurred, Racal emphasized that it was a “polite” breakup.
“It was a very difficult talk because I love him so much. I love him and he loves me din, but I have so many questions about my life and how will I go on sa buhay with him. I have so many questions about me, my sense of self that was so difficult. But it was a very polite separation,” she shared with emotion.
Describing her relationship with Blanco, Racal stated that it was unique and filled with love.
“Up to the very end of our relationship, it was still full of love, full of understanding, and Rico is one of a kind. If I could only skip through my 20s, but I can’t. I have to face it, I have to sit with my feelings and acknowledge my changes,” she explained.
Racal also clarified that her on-screen partner Jennings is “out of the picture.”
“It’s mainly me and Rico. Mainly me, I’m the issue,” she confessed.
In closing, Racal asked the public for understanding as both she and Blanco navigate the next chapter of their lives.
“This is the only time I ever talk about it. And I humbly ask the public to look at us, Rico and I, with understanding and love because we are both grieving. Hindi naman mako-control ‘yung mga opinion ng mga tao, but please don’t direct your hate towards Rico, because he’s too precious for that. If guys want to throw so much, I am ready to take them,” she stated.
Blanco and Racal confirmed their relationship in May 2021, two years after collaborating on a music single.