Lea Salonga shares thoughts on dating again after end of marriage
Could a new romance be in the cards for Lea Salonga?
In an interview on ANC's Beyond The Exchange, the Broadway star was asked if she's open to finding love again after her long marriage to her former husband Robert Chien.
"Nah," Salonga answered without a second to spare. "It's not something that I am actively building a life towards."
She then cited a piece of advice she saw online: "Build your life as if you're never getting married. [A life] where you prioritize yourself, where you love yourself, where you fall in love with yourself, and create a beautiful life."
The actress said she has taken this to heart.
"It's like when you build a garden and make it beautiful and varied with plenty of flowers, that's when the butterflies come. Don't chase the butterflies. Attract them to your garden. So, I liked that piece of advice. So, create your life. And if you meet somebody who makes your life even better, then that is when you can consider," she highlighted.
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Salonga added that she's confident her friends also won't set her up on a blind date.
"For them, kung saan ka masaya, doon ka dapat, and I have a life that is incredibly fulfilling, professionally. As far as my personal life goes, my attention is to my son, [my] friends, [my] home, and there's a lot of work on my plate," she said.
While she admitted that she may be a bit of a romantic, Salonga rejected outdated dating customs like dropping her handkerchief for a gentleman to pick it up.
"I'm not going to do something to achieve an end to snag a guy," she said. "I'm like, 'Dude, I can pick up my own hankie.' It's not the kind of thing I necessarily subscribe to. I guess my views on that are a little more progressive. More modern," she said.
Salonga married Chien in Los Angeles in January 2007. The two share a son, Nic Chien, who was born in 2006.
Salonga publicly confirmed that she and Chien had been separated for some time in January earlier this year. She shared the news during a media interview for Les Misérables: The World Tour Spectacular, saying, “We've been separated for a while. He's happy, and I am happy that he's happy.”
She did not disclose the reason for their separation or when it began.
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