Coleen on marriage with Billy: ‘Not perfect but we’re happy’
Coleen Garcia said that she’s now recovering after struggling with her mental health and feeling “left behind” in the past three years.
“I was left behind talaga for the past three years,” admitted Coleen during a press conference for Viva One’s Kung Hindi Lang Tayo Sumuko. “My mental health and everything took a backseat. So, now, I’m finally recovering. Amari already allows me to work. I tell him, ‘Mommy’s gonna go to work.’ I think the almost three years that I spent (with him), I really bonded with him (and) it helped.”
She laid low from showbiz to focus on being a mom and a wife after giving birth to Amari during the pandemic in 2020, her firstborn child with husband Billy Crawford. The actress’ latest acting project is her “comeback” series following her return from France last year.
“I miss this kind of event (presscon). But, you know, it’s part of me that I didn’t know until now that it’s really part of me. But I’m happy. I think those three years were very important for me to realize that this is all I need and everything outside is a bonus para mas ma-enjoy ko kasi I feel like before I was thinking of everything way too seriously,” she continued.
“And sometimes, when it happens, especially in the public eye, you get a lot of comments (and) we get a lot of bashing and everything, and sometimes it hurts. It’s like those years just with my family, that’s when I realized na ito pa lang masaya na ako. So whatever is outside plus na lang yun, walang minus.”
Coleen and Billy just celebrated their ninth anniversary as a couple. Asked if there were still incidents of jealousy in their relationship after years of marriage, the 30-year-old actress shared, “Now, parang yung selos namin, yung joke-joke na lang. Parang hirit-hirit lang pero minsan may laman. Pero parang dinadaan na lang namin sa ganun but we feel so secure in our relationship. He really makes me feel everything I need to feel in a marriage, in a relationship so wala na akong hahanapin pa.”
She also recalled entering into their relationship with trust issues due to her past. “So, if anything, I was more the jealous-type, not because of him but because of all the baggage I came with and because of all of my insecurities and everything,” Coleen said.
“And I’m now in a relationship that is truly helping me heal and that is giving me the space in the room to grow. Hindi siya yung dumadagdag kasi kung magseselos pa siya parang dadagdag pa yun. It won’t help me grow. It won’t help me heal.”
Moreover, Coleen is “happy” with Billy who gives her “space to be able to do what I have to do.” “Because I’ve never done anything for him to doubt me. I’ve never done anything to break his trust and of course, I trust him also.”
Billy is currently in France doing numerous shows after his successful stint in the French version of Dancing with the Stars. The husband and wife have been apart for two months now, the longest that they haven’t been physically together.
“We call each other every day pero parang minsan goodnight na lang ganun,” shared Coleen. “Because, sometimes, it’s easier to let the day pass. Because we’re very busy, Billy is very busy. He has 18 shows in France.”
She is, nonetheless, very proud of the resurgence of Billy’s career in Europe. “Umaabot sa 40,000 to 60,000 people, all singing along to his songs, and they all love him. They are all cheering for him kaya nakakataba din ng puso na he is going through that,” she said.
“Meanwhile, I’m here just trying to find myself again. So, we’re both going through completely different things and I think this is the stage where we both have to focus on our individual paths first but we still update each other.”
“I think this is what (people) say na when you enter into a relationship, kailangan alam mo na buo ka na like you have everything together,” she added. “Me and Billy kasi parang we found love in a hopeless place ang peg. But we’re helping each other grow so it doesn’t end before you get married. Talagang when you have the right partner, continuous dapat yung growth.”
Coleen had earlier admitted she almost canceled her wedding with Billy in April 2018. But she later on clarified that they are “such in a good place now” in their marriage. “Super good place ever since we got married and especially when we had Amari.”
The actress was just opening up about what they went through as a couple to show that their relationship is “not perfect.”
“I always wanna be open about what we go through because, you know, people see us happy, people see our highs (but) they don’t get to see our lows. That’s not something you would share with the world but I do want to acknowledge that it happens because baka may ibang couples din out there na ‘pag nakita nila, ‘Ay yung mga artista parang ang saya-saya tapos biglang mababalitaan mo na lang na naghiwalay na.’
“So, there are a lot of things that we go through also that we don’t tell everybody because we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t tell everybody but I think it’s healthy so that people know that we are not perfect. Our relationship is not perfect but we’re happy.”
Meanwhile, Coleen is thrilled to be part of the series Kung Hindi Lang Tayo Sumuko, opposite Carlo Aquino. The premise of the mini-series is about a couple’s relationship which is on the rocks just weeks before they face each other at the altar and vow to spend a lifetime together.
Now streaming on Viva One, it is based on the bestselling book of Marcelo Santos III (Para Sa Hopeless Romantic and Para Sa Broken Hearted) and directed by Carlo Enciso Catu. It also stars Ryza Cenon, Kiko Estrada, Rhen Escaño and Jerome Ponce.
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