http://www.mb.com.ph/lovestory/
Lovestory
Why Heart and Chiz are meant for each other. No haters allowed. Just love, love, love.
by Ieth Inolino
August 31, 2014
August 31, 2014
She’s outgoing, he’s serious—but it’s true what they say, stay long enough and you pick up your partner’s habits. They can finish each other’s sentences. He’s learned to be more carefree, she’s learned to be more profound. The newly-engaged couple recounts their love story—and that ring everyone’s ogling at—in a fun and funny conversation.
THE LOVE STORY
Tell us about how you met.
Heart: The moment really started when I saw him at a restaurant at The Fort some time in 2007. I instantly became a fan. Super crush ko siya. The song ‘Lady in Red’ was playing and I downloaded it on the same day. And I would think of him whenever I heard the song. Super crush talaga.
Chiz: You should have tweeted me.
Heart: I tweeted you. I said something like, ‘I’m a fan.’
Chiz: I don’t think I had Twitter then.
Heart: You already had Twitter. I saw your tweet before, saying something like, ‘I saw Heart Evangelista at the airport.’
Chiz: Really? But I didn’t tag you. I don’t think I knew how to tag then.
Heart: Anyway, that was the first time I saw him. Super crush ko siya. But that time, we didn’t meet. He was just at the same restaurant. But when we met for the first time…
Chiz: She was wearing red. Laughs.
Heart: I just had to make the fantasy real. Just for me. I didn’t think that I’d end up with him. But I just had to make it real so I had to wear something red. So, in my mind, ‘Lady In Red.’ We were introduced by Tita Miriam Defensor by phone. She gave me a list of guys that she wanted me to date after my breakup. I told her before, in passing, that I had a crush on him. She said, well, I heard that he’s annulled. Let’s set a dinner. Then there was a number two on the list but I never got to number two because I ended up staying with him.
Chiz: When I first saw her, I was starstruck. She was removing her jacket in slow motion.
Heart: Maybe that’s just how you saw it. I wore a red jacket to make sure that I was wearing something red. We were in the terrace and it was so hot.
How did you know that he was the one and she was the one?
Heart: When he proposed to me. Laughs. Why don’t you answer that?
Chiz: It’s about getting to know each other, really. In my point of view, you don’t enter a relationship just for the heck of it. When you meet someone, when you ask someone out, when you marry someone, you discuss it and if you’re on the same page, that’s it. And it’s just a matter of talking about the whole shebang (for the wedding).
Heart: It’s true what he said that you don’t enter a relationship without thinking [about marriage]. But at that point, I wasn’t ready yet. When we were together, I wanted to end up with him. But I was still open to the chance that it might not work. I didn’t want to hope so much because of everything I’d been through. He ended up being better than I imagined him to be. He was fun. He made me feel like a princess. He introduced me to a lot of new things. He makes me a better person.
THE RELATIONSHIP
What’s your favorite thing about each other?
Heart: He’s supportive of my work, everything that I’m passionate about, like my painting and my work.
Chiz: Her sweetness, because I’m not like that.
How did you deal with him not being sweet?
Heart: I was complaining a lot. Laughs. I really dealt with it. I’m so passionate and malambing. I’m used to someone holding my hand in public. He was strange in the beginning. I didn’t know if he was shy or conscious. I couldn’t understand it. It was hard for me. But he got over it and became sweet.
Chiz: A thousand times. And remember we really started with a low number.
Heart: But there’s still space for development. Laughs.
What do you like most about your relationship?
Heart: The independence. It’s him not telling me what to do. I don’t like [being controlled] because it makes me feel suffocated. I’m a very expressive person. Before I would complain, now, I appreciate that he didn’t hinder my growth.
Chiz: It’s everything. The opportunity to establish a family—make my family whole again. Basically, the chance to make things better.
What is it about your relationship that makes it work despite the challenges?
Heart: I think if you really genuinely love each other, you also accept the bad side with the good. And also the fact that he’s older than me. So, when I’m agitated, he’s relaxed. Or when I’m being immature, he’s the matured one. He lets me understand the situation. We communicate really well. He knows how to talk to me. Because when you really want a relationship, you have to make an effort. And he really makes an effort.
Chiz: And the fact that we don’t have the same line of work, that makes the relationship exciting. Not like if one is a congresswoman and the other is a senator. When you go home, what do you talk about? The bills that you pass?
What lesson has your relationship taught you?
Chiz: As Og Magdino would say, this, too, shall come to pass. Even if it gets hard, it will pass. The sun will still shine the next day.
Heart: It’s the same for me. With him around, I would feel calm. I overthink. I worry. What he said is true. This, too, shall pass.
THE PROPOSAL
Tell us about how the proposal went.
Chiz: The challenge was actually preparing for it and hiding it from her. She had so many questions that I couldn’t answer. I proposed in my dad’s house in Sorsogon. There was a scheduled trip with some friends. For me, the timing was right. It was the perfect time. Sorsogon is meaningful for me because that’s where I came from and that’s where I started. Plus, because my dad has already passed away, doing it in his house made it feel like he was part of the occasion.
Heart: I had no idea what was happening. In fact, I was getting annoyed with him because he was always gone. It was supposed to be a vacation with friends then he would leave us and come back after three hours. I thought he was going to propose in Paris because that’s what everyone was saying. When this happened, I was really surprised because I didn’t think it would happen there. It wasn’t something I imagined it to be. It was such a new feeling! Parang it’s a new app. I’ve never experienced anything like that. It was like a new color. It was so different. I actually blacked out. I don’t remember him kneeling down. I just remember telling him that he was putting the ring on the wrong finger.
Chiz: At least I have a witness. Alex (Alessandra de Rossi) was interviewed. She gave an account of the proposal. She said, ‘What I remember is that Chiz hasn’t finished asking the question yet and Heart is saying yes already.’ Laughs.
THE RING
What’s the story of the engagement ring?
Chiz: It’s from my mom. She got it from her mom and I guess she got it from her mom. She had it reshaped into a heart long before then I asked her for it.
Heart: It’s a family heirloom.
THE WEDDING
What are your plans for the big day?
Heart: We still have to talk about it. We have to consider his work. For the theme, we definitely want something private, intimate, with just a few people, somewhere far away so that we can feel as though we could really stop time. Then maybe go back and have a party here with everyone. For us, it would be meaningful and more special, because I’m in showbiz and he’s in politics, to just really get away from all of that and enjoy what we have.
Chiz: Solemn and intimate, not a circus. You want me to take care of everything. Surprise na lang ulit. Last time I surprised you, it worked! Laughs.
THE MARRIAGE
What’s your plan after the wedding?
Chiz: Eight kids in the next eight years. Laughs.
Heart: I want a baby three or four years from now. I want to enjoy finally being married. Just the two of us. I’m still going to work, maybe not so much on soap operas. But I’ll be doing my hosting and my painting.
What do you look forward to in being a married couple?
Heart: It’s really having the blessing of God. It wouldn’t change naman anything. Our relationship is pretty much it. It’s going to stay the same. It’s going to get better.
Chiz: I look forward to the daily grind. It’s how you live that side of your life that matters. It’s not the life that’s seen in front of the camera, the life that other people see. It’s the life outside that. Yung hindi pa siya naliligo, kung anong itsura nya.
Heart: Uy, nakita mo na akong nagpa-paint ng hindi naliligo.
Chiz: Yung wala pang makeup na hindi pa naliligo.
Heart: Nakita mo na yun.
Chiz: Yung hindi pa naliligo at gamit pa yung makeup nung nakaraang araw.
Heart: Hindi mangyayari yun.
