'Temporarily closing this chapter': Bela Padilla bids goodbye to life in London to make full-time acting return
After a hiatus that took her across continents, Bela Padilla is finally returning to the limelight.
On Instagram, the 33-year-old actress shared a lengthy post alongside a video showcasing some snippets of her life in London as she bid goodbye to the country and prepared to go back to the acting scene.
"A few seconds of my life in London since 2021. I am temporarily closing this chapter as I prepare to work full-time again. And yes, I should have taken more pictures. I should have kissed and hugged my loved ones as much as I needed," she began.
Bela went on to describe how this geographical shift reinvented her personal life in terms of decision-making and personal growth.
"Even if London will forever be the city that made me question everything I know in life, and forced me to square my shoulders, walk faster and be more vigilant…it will also always be the city that allowed me to smell flowers in spring and summer. And boy did I stop and smell the flowers constantly."
She continued, "London made me embrace the sad colors of autumn so hard that it would crush my soul every time I swept my garden before winter. Always weeping for the big tree I have, dying temporarily… as did I, with every sad day, quiet room entered and moment of complete confusion."
The actress added how living in the city helped her navigate her health.
"Because of London, my instincts are now sharper. I stayed as healthy as I could while navigating my [autoimmune] disorder. I very quickly learned to walk, ride my bike and eventually drive cars on the left side. The education I got from in and out of the classrooms [is embedded] in me now," she said.
"London also gave me the best friends that one could develop in adulthood, abroad. Our shared love for food, pints of Guinness or ciders, homesickness, overpriced takeaway and complaints about the bitter cold of winter glued me to them in ways that sometimes saved my sanity."
While she says goodbye to London for now, Bela says she may possibly return to the UK capital someday.
"London is polite but shouts when you’re wrong. Beautiful but rough around the edges. Kind but has a darkness that could scare the tough...my friend, London."
It was in November 2021 when the 100 Tula Para Kay Stella star announced on X she had indeed moved to London.
Bela currently serves as one of the guest hosts on the noontime variety show It's Showtime. She is known for portraying various roles in Filipino films, including 100 Tula Para Kay Stella (2017), Meet Me in St. Gallen (2018), The Day After Valentines (2018), and the Pinoy film adaptation of Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2019), among others.
