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Maris talks about romance with Rico Blanco, portraying Irene in “Can’t Buy Me Love”

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Mary Ann Bardinas

Just in time for the celebration of Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day this February, <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/cantbuymelove" target="_blank">Can’t Buy Me Love</a> star Maris Racal enthusiastically joined Dra. Vicki Belo in her latest vlog, wherein they didn’t just make us crave for Chinese food as they went on a fun Binondo food crawl, but also filled our hearts with kilig as they talked about Maris’ romance with OPM icon Rico Blanco.On their way to Binondo, the Kapamilya actress happily discussed her love story with boyfriend Rico for the first time upon being quizzed by the celebrity doctor. According to her, it all started when she was just a child as she and her older siblings were all fans of Rico, especially her older brother who used to have a band. <div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="703" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pQ_brpmKooc" title="BINONDO FOOD CRAWL AND MARIS RACAL &amp; RICO BLANCO" S="" LOVE="" STORY="" DR.="" VICKI="" width="1250"></iframe></div>From simply being her idol, he had gone to become her crush and ideal guy as she used to tell anyone who would ask what she was looking for in a guy that she wanted someone who’s like Rico, specifically a younger version of him. She recounted asking God to give her a younger version of Rico through posting on her private Facebook account. Little she did know that the universe had grander plans for her because many years later, she would be blessed to have the real Rico Blanco as her boyfriend. Their connection started when she was in her early 20s and beginning to make a mark in the industry. While her acting career was thriving, she was also planning to take her music career seriously, so she wrote songs and looked for artists with whom she could collaborate with. And the funny thing about it was that everytime she finished composing a song, she would tell herself, “Oh my God, magugustuhan ‘to ni Rico!”In 2018, she recalled posting on Twitter, “honestly looking for a creativity-partner who could share his/her inputs for my music”, to which several artists responded. However, her real target was Rico and she succeeded as she replied “G!” after fans tagged him. They immediately set a date for their meeting, which made Maris overwhelmed with kilig as everything she manifested was finally happening.She was accompanied by her father to Rico’s house where he also has a studio, and Maris recounted how she was filled with excitement and jitters on their very first encounter. She recalled, “At that time, hindi siya parang crush na feeling. Parang I’m fangirling tapos I was just really eager to play my music in front of him.”He eventually agreed to collaborate with her and even helped her finish one of the songs she wrote that he absolutely liked, which was her hit single “Abot Langit.” They were able to finish the project and had it released, without her feeling anything romantic towards him.However, things suddenly changed when he invited her to go out to watch a musical play, which she declined and told him that she actually wanted to watch the movie “Mary Poppins.” She then changed her mind and told him to just attend the event organized by their mutual friend Rambo Nuñez, who just gotten back with actress Maja Salvador years after they broke up. Sparks began to fly between them, which led to a romantic relationship.According to Maris, they agreed to keep their romance for two years a secret for she was afraid that it might affect her career. Thus, they completely enjoyed those quiet times they had, being just genuinely happy together. In fact, they had their first-ever date in Las Vegas, Nevada when she had a work commitment there and he decided to follow, which she truly appreciated.It was during the height of the pandemic in 2021 when she decided to finally publicize their relationship. Speculations began to spark when she posted a black-and-white candid photo of him on Instagram, along with a video of them jamming to Aqualung’s “Brighter Than Sunshine,”that she simply captioned “hi rico. happy birthday.” The gesture indeed surprised him and made him happy at the same time, just like how most of their followers reacted upon seeing itMaris and Dra. Vicki’s conversation then veered to her working experience in <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/cantbuymelove" target="_blank">Can’t Buy Me Love</a>, with the actress imparting that their favorite bonding activity on the set is food trip since they’re filming in Binondo. When asked if she had to learn the Chinese culture, she imparted, “I’m learning as we shoot. Kasi ‘yong role ko rito, she’s not the traditional Filipino-Chinese naman na girl, so laking rich family lang siya. Pure English lang, hindi naman sila nagfi-Fookien.”She then went on to enthuse how much she enjoys portraying the well-loved Irene Tiu because it was she who usually drives the scene, especially in the first few weeks of filming. She related, “Na-enjoy ko siya kasi you drive the scene wherever you want it to go. So, ikaw, bilang nang-aapi ka, you can do whatever you want para mang-api. And then your ka-scene will react to what you’re doing.”Maris also looked back on her intense sampalan scene with Belle Mariano, which both of them just laughed off and truly enjoyed in the end.As soon as they arrived in Binondo, they stopped by first at the famous fried shanghai siopao stall and bought fried siopao and a few packs of hopia. They then headed to a fastfood restaurant, wherein they ordered its bestsellers beef wonton mami, shrimp siomai, shrimp hak<a id="m_-9192366270105775586ms-outlook-mobile-sharing-link-anchor-d8f3f474-f792-4cb9-8847-e729773136e7" name="m_-9192366270105775586__GoBack" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a>aw, and chicken feet. Maris also accepted Dra. Vicki’s challenge to show her skills as a waitress ala-Irene Tiu, while the latter took on the dare of eating chicken feet as well.The vlog capped off with Dra. Vicki giving Maris a gorgeous gift, which is her first-ever Chanel bag.

Maris Racal shared her love story with Rico Blanco, as well as talked about her portrayal of Irene in Can’t Buy Me Love.