After over a year of speculation, Gerald Anderson admitted that he is in a relationship with Julia Barretto.
In a tell-all interview with Boy Abunda yesterday, March 5, the veteran host asked him if Barretto is the reason why he is happy and he said, “Very happy. Very happy tito Boy, it’s a yes.”
Anderson also shared that despite being a public figure, he still tries to protect his privacy and acknowledged that he is aware of people criticizing him because of his private life.
“I’ve come to terms with it, Tito Boy. I mean, maba-bash at maba-bash tayo,” he said.
“At the end of the day, ako ‘yung pinaka-controversial na tao sa Pilipinas ngayon but I’m so blessed with good health, ‘yung pamilya, nakakakain kami araw-araw, may work ako. I can still provide for them,” he added.
Despite being the center of headlines back then, he kept mum about the issue. When Abunda asked him why he chose to stay silent and not defend himself, he shared that he did not want to drag other people just to clear his name.
“I can remember that moment…I just don’t have the guts to put someone in a bad light because gusto ko linisin ang image ko or ‘yung side ko,” he said.
“Nasaktan [ako]. [Pero] wala na po kong magagawa, Tito Boy. Hindi rin ako ‘yung tipo ng tao na kahit ang daming nagsasabi na ‘magsalita ka,’ I couldn’t look at myself in a mirror kapag nagkwento pa ‘ko about my relationship, kung paano kami naghiwalay o ‘di naghiwalay,” Anderson added.
In 2019, Anderson was embroiled in a controversy after breaking up with actress Bea Alonzo. At the time, Anderson and Barretto were already romantically linked with each other after working on the film Between Maybes.
Anderson clarified that there was no third party involved and things just didn’t work out for them while Barretto, who was already single, also denied the allegations that she was the cause of Alonzo and Anderson’s break up.
“Let’s be clear, Josh and I had broken up four months ago. We have publicly admitted it together and we have cleared that there was no third-party involved. (…) I would like to disassociate myself from the breakup of Bea and Gerald. Their issues are entirely their own,” she said in an Instagram post back in 2019.
READ: Did Julia Barretto just admit she’s taken?
This comes after Alonzo posted cryptic messages on social media without mentioning the Between Maybes stars’ names but netizens were quick to conclude that her message alludes to her relationship with Anderson.
On ‘ghosting’ Bea Alonzo
In an old interview with her home network ABS-CBN, Alonzo was taken aback when she was told that Anderson informed Barretto’s father Dennis Padilla that they had broken up a long time ago.
“He said that? Honestly, to my understanding we did not break up. He just started not talking to me,” was her answer.
The internet tagged Anderson as someone who ‘ghosts’ in a relationship. But in his recent interview, he denied that he ghosted Alonzo and stressed that their relationship was already ‘toxic’ and his ex-girlfriend didn’t seem to accept his countless explanations.
“Wala po akong ghinost,” he told Abunda.
“Ano po ba ang definition ng ghosting? Kasi ang dating sa ‘kin is parang nasa gitna kami ng dinner and then nag-decide ako na mag-walkout and ‘di magpapakita kahit kailan. ‘Yun ba ang definition or is it walking away from a very unhealthy, toxic — not saying na siya ‘yung toxic, ako ‘yung toxic — but being together we were very toxic, and hindi nirerespeto ‘yung explanation na binibigay mo, hindi tinatanggap after months and months and months and months and months of being on the rocks at medyo away? I mean ‘yun lang, I’m just gonna leave it at that,” Anderson explained.
In the same interview, Anderson says he will never ‘throw someone under the bus’ just to make his image look good.
“I will never throw someone under the bus para lang linisin ‘yung [pangalan ko]…lalo na ‘yung tao na I have intimate moments with, I had happy moments with. Lalo na itong last, ang pangit. Ang lala,” he said.
