Batangas Vice Gov. Mark Leviste visits Kris Aquino in California: 'Spending the first day of the year with the Queen'
Batangas Vice Gov. Mark Leviste paid Kris Aquino a visit in California where she's getting treatment for her multiple autoimmune diseases.
"Spending the first day of the year with the Queen," Leviste wrote in his Instagram post.
In the photos, Leviste is cozying up with Aquino and her sons Josh and Bimby.
He also shared a candid photo of a smiling Aquino browsing her phone, as well as them having a meal together.
The post doesn't explicitly confirm if they're an item already, as they were being romantically linked in the past.
Leviste first reached out to Aquino in 2019, when she wrote an Instagram post asking single men aged 41 to 55 to add her on Facebook. Leviste was up to the challenge and commented: "Looking for someone single, aged 41?"
They had an exchange in the comments, with Aquino even noting how Leviste was already making moves on doctor Cathy Valencia.
Valencia, however, clarified then that she's only friends with Leviste. Aquino then cited her experience with "players" and politicians, and noted that Leviste has check marks on both.
"Not 'looking' but I look forward to getting to know you better and befriending you," Aquino wrote.
"Fair enough. Something to look forward to," Leviste responded.
In March 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when everybody is cooped up at home, Aquino shared an art card that read, "Choose those who choose you," as she held a "love life forum" with followers.
Leviste wrote "I choose you" and a yellow heart emoji in the comments, but Aquino was quick to reject his offer, saying "no thank you, no offense."
Asked by her followers why she responded that way, Aquino said it's not healthy to entertain someone "when you know in your heart that feelings for another haven't been totally extinguished."
"Unless I resolve that, I have no business letting someone new into my life," she said. "My heart has to know there are absolutely no leftover feelings."
She also lamented how Leviste "wasn't very polite with his text messages" to her and lacked a "sensitivity chip."
But Aquino seemed to have come around a year later, when they were reportedly spotted in a dinner date.
The following June, Aquino also shared a photo with Leviste, Bimby and lawyer Gideon Peña (who was also being romantically linked to her) in her house in Bonifacio Global City. In the post, Aquino announced that she just took her COVID-19 vaccine.
She then asked Leviste to get his jab "soonest" at the time, to protect himself, his loved ones, and his constituents.
That same year, however, Aquino minced no words in describing the "red flags" of Leviste, like mixing up girls' names and possessing an easily disposable old phone that's supposedly used for keeping secrets.
After that, Aquino has been on and off social media, disclosing to the public her string of medical conditions, including autoimmune diseases that are "life-threatening," as well as the series of tests and procedures she's undergoing. She last updated her followers on Christmas Eve, thanking those who pray for her health.
Aquino was formerly married to basketball star James Yap. Her last reported romance was with former Quezon City mayor and actor Herbert Bautista.