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EXCLUSIVE: Leila Alcasid on growing up with a modern family set up: ‘I’m so lucky I have four parents!”

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Rhea Manila Santos

As the eldest daughter of Ogie Alcasid and Australian beauty queen Michelle Van Eimeren, Leila Alcasid said it wasn’t really hard for her to grow up with parents who were not only separated but lived in separate countries. “It’s funny you would expect that because you hear about it so often but really I was very blessed from the beginning I don’t remember there being any time where my parents argued, from the very beginning they were always getting along. And I know a big factor was that they were doing that for me and my sister and now for my brother which is awesome. They were so selfless and they were able to put aside their differences and it created a very stable environment for me growing up because it meant that I got used to the idea of having four parents from a really young age. From seven or eight years old I never saw it that it was so sad that my parents didn’t live together, it was always like, ‘Wow I’m so lucky I have four parents,’” she shared with PUSH. Now that she lives in the Philippines, Leila said she happily lives with her dad Ogie and his family here. “I get to have my little brother and my sister and then I just have more family. I’ve been able to get close to my stepmom’s sisters and cousins and everyone. I’ve always been someone that wanted a big family and regardless if that happened through a modern family kind of set up or traditional, I’m very grateful because it’s contributed so much to how I am as a person now and it’s also done a lot for my open-mindedness with other things around me,” she added.Leila said she really respects the opinions of Ogie and Regine. “My stepmom is also very hands-on in kind of setting up the rules for me. With my dad, we definitely talk about stuff and he would listen to me whenever I needed to tell him whatever it is I also needed. Eventually, as I’ve lived here longer and as he’s seen me mature I guess, a lot of the restrictions have gone away and he’s become a lot more open-minded. I guess because I’ve shown him that I can do things on my own and I have a lot of people around me that he trusts. So he knows that if he’s not around I’ll be okay and he’s still very hands on which I like. I feel like that just because you reach 22 or 23 or whatever age, it doesn’t mean that your parents magically just stop becoming parents you know. They’ll always be parents and there will always be a place for them to guide you. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re bossing you around. And I think he definitely nailed that,” she explained.

Singer Leila Alcasid talks about growing up in Australia and moving to the Philippines