TRENDING: Leren Bautista reacts to being called Ricci Rivero's 'tita'
Leren Bautista had a hilarious response to bashers who are saying she looks like Ricci Rivero's "tita."
In the Feb. 16 episode of Fast Talk with Boy Abunda, the beauty queen-turned-politician was asked about the age gap in her relationship with the basketball player. Talking about their five-year age difference, she said, "Natatawa lang ako minsan."
"'Pag sinasabi nila, tita daw ako ni Ricci, sinasabi ko, 'Hindi naman tita. Ate lang,'" she continued with a laugh.
In the same interview, the two talked about the possibility of taking their relationship to the next level and getting married.
"Kami, Tito Boy, may mga napag-usapan na rin kami, even ‘yung friends namin na na-engaged or nagpaplano ng kasal. Same kami na hindi naman siya doon sa tagal or what," said Ricci.
The couple also talked about their biggest learnings about love and romance.
"Hindi niyo kailangang madaliin, Tito Boy. Hindi niyo rin naman kailangang intentionally i-delay. Basta go with the flow kayo pero andoon ang intent of getting to know each other more," he said.
"Kasi kahit gaano katagal 'yan, ang sabi nga, kapag may nakakausap tayong mga matatanda, kahit 'yung mga lolo at lola natin, may mga bago pa rin silang natututunan sa isa't isa, hindi siya nag-stop. May mga ayaw pa rin tayo na gagawin ng partner natin na first time nating makikita kahit sobrang tagal niyo na," he added.
For Leren, it's "more on how you communicate with each other kasi magkaibang tao, and, of course, the choice to stick with your partner kahit anong mangyari."
Ricci confirmed his relationship with Leren in October with a heartfelt letter about finding "the right one."
"Hindi tayo magtatago dahil walang dapat ikahiya. Walang nang-agaw at walang inagaw," he wrote in an Instagram post. "Walang bibitaw dahil masaya tayong magkahawak kamay."
Ricci was previously with actress Andrea Brillantes. Their relationship started in April 2022. They confirmed their breakup in June this year.
A month before that, Ricci spent his birthday with Leren in Los Baños in Laguna, where she’s a councilor, and distributed food packs to constituents. This sparked dating rumors between them, but Leren denied this at the time and said it was an outreach activity that’s “not an indication of a romantic relationship between them.”
Leren stressed on Fast Talk with Boy Abunda that were was no overlap between her and Andrea's relationships with Ricci.