Toni doesn't want 'showbiz connotation' in relationship with BF

MANILA, Philippines – Whether she's already engaged or already planning to getting married to boyfriend director Paul Soriano are the questions that Toni Gonzaga always gets during press conferences and media gatherings.

 

“Every year 'yan ang tanong sa akin. Wala pa talaga, honest,” she said when asked about wedding or engagement plans with Soriano during the media launch of her album “Celestine” recently.

 

But the entertainment press and her fans need not fret—the TV host-singer said she will be open about the status of her relationship with her boyfriend if and when anything momentous happens, like an engagement or a wedding.

 

This, Toni said, is one of the lessons imparted to her by her father even before she entered into a relationship with the “Thelma” director.

 

“I remember 'yan yung sinabi sa akin ng daddy ko: huwag kang magsisinungaling sa tao,” she said.

 

Toni explained, “Nung 23 ako, sabi ko sa daddy ko, 'Daddy, gusto ko mag-boyfriend. Mature na ako.' Sabi ng daddy ko, 'Sige, mag boyfriend ka na.' So sinagot si direk Paul sa bahay, ganyan.” 

 

“Sabi ng daddy ko, 'Ito ang sasabihin ko sa iyo: kung magbu-boyfriend ka, kapag tinanong ka ng press people, kapag tinanong ka ng tao sa industriya, at sinabing may boyfriend ka na ba, gusto ko isagot mo, oo'.”

 

The “Starting Over Again” actress admitted she was first hesitant to be open about her relationship with Paul to the public, fearing it might have repercussions in her career. But she chose to be open about the relationship.

 

“Ayaw niya (her father) na magkaroon ng connotation na showbiz yung relasyon,” she said.

 

Toni added, “Ang isang bagay na tinatago, ang ibig sabihin nun forbidden or kinahihiya.”

 

READ: Toni on 'PBB' nude painting issue: 'The show knows its limitations'

 

The 30-year-old multi-hyphenate artist is currently on top of her game now, with a numerous TV hosting projects, a new album, and, just recently, a hit movie with Piolo Pascual.

 

Is Toni afraid of eventually losing the popularity she's currently enjoying now?

 

“Dati, when I was younger,” she said. It was the period, Toni said, when she did the movies “D' Anothers”with Vhong Navarro and “You Are The One” with Sam Milby and John Lloyd Cruz and hosted the first season of “Pinoy Big Brother.”

 

“Nung nangyayari lahat yun, in the back of my mind there was so much fear and so much worry na lagi kong kinukwestyon, 'Hanggang kailan ito?',” she said. 

 

But Toni said she later realized that “yung fears na kinakatakutan natin, it only happens when we feed what we fear.”

 

“Mangyayari lang yung when we keep feeding that fear. Pinalalaki mo siya. The more you worry, the more you think about it, kinakain niya yung buong pagkatao mo. And when it eats you up, you cannot anymore enjoy the blessings na binibigay sa iyo.”

 

The “Pinoy Big Brother” host added she understands that artists and celebrities have an “expiration date.”

 

“So right now, if you ask me, in all honesty sa puso ko, hindi ko siya kinakatakutan sa ngayon kasi darating at darating dun,” she said.

 

Toni added, “For as long as you're given the chance the trust and the break, you just to give your best, maximize all the opportunities. So that when the time comes na naramdaman mo na pa-expire ka na, you can rest and retire and tell yourself na nagawa ko ang mga dapat ko gawin, tapos na, pwede na akong magpahinga.”