Basketball star Ricci Rivero bared the details of his split with actress Andrea Brillantes in a television interview.
During an episode of Fast Talk with Boy Abunda on Monday, June 26, Ricci clarified speculations that followed the breakup news which he said was already affecting his family.
“If ako (lang), OK lang, pero ‘wag naman ‘yung pamilya ko,” Ricci said.
“Kaya ko tanggapin eh kasi alam ko naman na ‘di totoo, pero kapag sa pamilya ko, siguro it’s time for me to step up and kailangan ko sila protektahan sa mga issues na ‘to,” he added.
According to Ricci, the two of them took a “little break from each other” last April as both of them needed a “breather” from their numerous problems.
He stressed that their problems were not exactly personal but caused by a lot of possible factors that he considered “normal” in every relationship.
He said that there was hope that they could rekindle their relationship before officially breaking it off on the first week of May.
When asked about the cause of their breakup, Ricci told Boy that it was rooted in speculations of a third party, specifically on accusations that Andrea caught the athlete with another woman in his condo.
“Yung cause ng breakup was ‘yung speculation ngayon, ‘yung may kumakalat sa social media na may nakita siyang girl sa place ko,” he said.
Ricci clarified that the woman Andrea saw in his condo was his friend’s companion. “Pero ilang beses po naming pinagusapan ‘to, as in sobrang daming beses na sinabi ko sa kanya with all the evidences I have, na hindi po sa akin ‘yung girl.”
He also said that it was Andrea who took the video, which had gone viral on social media.
“Even after that, nag-uusap pa rin kami, nagkikita pa rin kami, usual us na walang away, walang taasan ng boses, ‘yung maayos na pinag-uusapan namin ‘yung amin,” he said on the aftermath of the issue.
On the topic of third parties, the name of Los Banos, Laguna councilor Leren Mae Bautista was brought up on the possibility of her involvement with their split.
“Wala pong kinalaman dito si Councilor Leren,” Ricci said.
He added that he had met the politician on the day of the outreach program which was also his birthday.
“Kasi ginagawa ko po siya every year so ever since nung first year college ginagawa ko na siya,” Ricci said.
Reaching out to their common friends, it was Ricci who initiated to conduct a feeding program at the province.
As for the now-deleted photos posted by Leren, Ricci said that there was nothing to deny in them and that the reason for taking them down was that because his split with Andrea was yet to be revealed to the public at the time, the councilor received “hate messages” upon posting them.
When asked about being silent about their status, Ricci said, “Kasi nung nag-break po kami, she asked for it and I gave in.”
According to the athlete, ending their relationship privately was a mutual decision between the both of them and hopes for their fans’ understanding.
“It’s not an easy way then for us to share to people na ganoon ‘yung nangyari sa’min.”
Ricci and Andrea’s breakup came a year after making their relationship official in April 2022 when he asked the actress to be his girlfriend in public, after winning his UAAP basketball match.
