Barbie Forteza says pairing with David Licauco is just 'business partnership'

MANILA, Philippines — They have yet to have an official fandom name, but Barbie Forteza clearly defined her relationship with David Licauco.

The actress sat with broadcast journalist Karen Davila on the latter's YouTube channel recently.

Davila's first remark in the 22-minute video was about Barbie's more than 20 teleseryes. The actress started when she was in her pre-teens, starring in teen shows and movies such as "First Time" and "Tween Hearts" and eventually to daytime and primetime soaps such as "Ikaw Lang Ang Mamahalin" and "The Half Sisters." 

Many of her teen-oriented series and earlier soaps paired her with Joshua Dionisio, that started in the remake of the Korean drama with the same name "Stairway to Heaven." Their successful pairing led to the creation of the JoshBie love team. Joshua is currently inactive in showbiz. After Joshua, Barbie's pairing with Ken Chan in "Meant To Be" also has a following, calling their love team KenBie. 

"I've had so many leading men before pero 'tong team up ko with David Licauco sa 'Maria Clara at Ibarra' is, I would say, one of the most successful love teams," said the 25-year-old actress. 

As another addition to the list of popular Filipino love teams, Barbie and David have become household names after the successful run of the hit historical portal fantasy series "Maria Clara at Ibarra." 

They have unmistakably become known as their TV alter egos. Barbie is Klay, the nursing student who was transported inside Dr. Jose Rizal's novels, "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo." Meanwhile, David is Fidel, the bestfriend of Crisostomo Ibarra (Dennis Trillo) who was not a major character in the novels. 

While Klay stayed inside the books, she slowly falls in love with the initially arrogant Fidel, who eventually grew into an empathic character who put others first before himself.  

Davila was quick to ask if her boyfriend, actor Jak Roberto is jealous of David. 

"Hindi naman po kasi magkaibagan po sila ni David and kami ni David malinaw sa aming dalawa na this is a business partnership," said Barbie. 

The actress said in past interviews that Jak understands the concept of love teams since he is also an actor. 

She is also thankful that her and David's supporters, some of which refer themselves as BarDa fans, are mature enough to distinguish between reel- and real-life romance. 

"Nakakatuwa lang din kasi kahit na 'yung mga supporters namin, Miss Karen, very mature mag-isip. Matatalino. Wala silang ini-expect from David and I to be more than friends kasi alam nga nila na we're very good friends and we're really good partners on screen," Barbie said, adding that she is very happy with her relationship with Jak. 

"So, okay na sila doon kaya laking pasalamat ko rin sa mga supporters namin," Barbie added. 

RELATED: Barbie Forteza gets candid about Jak Roberto, David Licauco