How Nadine Lustre found love in Siargao

MANILA, Philippines — Nadine Lustre is glowing.

I’ve sat with her many times for interviews and she’s always glowing. Well, certainly not like Edward Cullen in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, but Nadine is beaming and looking more lovely these days.

Her cheeks were glowing and her eyes were sparkling while we were having a conversation for The Boy Abunda Talk Channel on YouTube.

Nadine giggled when I asked about her love affair with French businessman Christophe Bariou. She readily shared how they met and fell in love with each other.

“Chris is half-French, half-Filipino. He’s been living in Siargao for eight years already. His dad bought land there in the ‘70s, ‘80s but I don’t know why he ended up in Siargao aside from the business because they didn’t start developing until two years ago,” said Nadine.

The actress-singer was referring to the luxury resort Maison Bukana, which, according to her, is situated in that part of the island, where the river and the ocean meet.

“It’s a kind of spot which you can rent, as in the whole place. You have a pool and you also have access to the beach.”

July of last year when Nadine went to Siargao to meet with friends, who have been living on the island, clueless that she would cross paths with the man, who will make her fall in love again.

“We have common friends,” began Nadine recalling how she and Chris first met. “I have friends, who have been living in Siargao for a while now. So, in July last year, two of my friends and I ended up going to Siargao just for a vacation. Medyo maluwag na nung time na ‘yun and we were able to fly out.

“No, we didn’t stay there (at Maison Bukana), we stayed in another place, but then, one of my good friends is working for him so she asked him if we could go to his spot because there’s a secret beach there, where there’s no one there most of the time and it’s really peaceful. Doon ‘yun kung saan nag-mi-meet ‘yung ilog at dagat. She asked him if we could go, but we just ended up swimming in the pool. That’s pretty much it.”

She added, “When we arrived, he was cleaning up.”

Nadine laughed while coyly telling her first impression of Chris. “My friends were already talking about him and they were saying that he’s actually really cute. Then when I saw him, I’m like, ‘OK fine, he’s actually kinda cute,’ hahahaha.”

Nadine would like to believe that Chris is getting used to her being a popular celebrity. “I think he understands that it’s something that he cannot escape. It’s something that he cannot control. You know, it’s part of it. So, he’s okay with it.”

Those who say love and career can’t happen together should look closely at how Nadine balances love with career. After her three-year self-imposed break in acting, Nadine made a comeback last April via the film titled Greed that she starred in with Diego Loyzaga and Epy Quizon. The Viva Films-produced thriller under director Yam Laranas is still available on the streaming platform Vivamax.

By next month, Nadine will start shooting for Deleter, a psychological thriller to be directed by Mikhail Red. It is set to be completed by the end of the year.

Nadine feels good to be back to acting after focusing on her music in recent years. “Definitely, na-miss ko rin ang pag-arte. Acting puts me in a different world. With music, iba rin ‘yung fun.”

“When I’m performing, it’s more of, I guess, telling my story because my songs are mostly about me but when I’m acting, it’s putting myself in the shoes of another person. It’s fun to be someone else for a couple of days,” added Nadine, who looks forward to doing more movies and more music.

She is also helping her mom in running some businesses “but I’m still learning. I can’t really say that I’m a businesswoman because there’s still a lot that I have to learn.”

Interestingly, Nadine has begun collaborating with brands as the CEO of Cool Girl Projects (CGP), focused on producing content for brands.

“I really wanna grow it (CGP) because this is where I am able to show my creative side. I want to produce amazing content for brands, actually, for the brands that I work with,” said Nadine of her creative agency.

Asked about her concept of wealth, Nadine stressed that it’s not all about the abundance of valuable material possessions but “for me, it’s just being contented like if you have a roof over your head, you eat properly, your family is okay. I think I’m rich because I am contented. It’s really just understanding that what you have now is all that you need in life.”