It’s been almost three years since they first collaborated on the single “Abot Langit” followed by songs like “Ate Sandali” and “Asa Naman” last September, but singer and music producer Rico Blanco said that there was never anything romantically going on between him and Maris Racal (with whom he has a 25-year age gap) at the start. In their first acting project together for the iWantTFC Original series The Goodbye Girl, the OPM legend revealed when he started falling for the former Pinoy Big Brother: All In housemate.

READ: Rico Blanco on what he admires about Maris Racal: ‘She’s serious about her craft’

“Hindi naman ako nagtatago ng anything. We were trying to find out, kami ni Maris, sometime ago how did it happen. Parang little by little lang. Definitely not the first time I met her. Definitely not when we were working on the song and recording. I take pride kasi in my professionalism in the studio and no matter if I think the person that I’m working with is attractive or not, or even on the set when I’m doing acting, I take pride in my professionalism. So wala eh. I think it was sometime after we were done working on the song. Sa mga talks namin siguro. Nagkakamustahan kami. DM yata, parang ganun,” he recalled during The Goodbye Girl mediacon last February 1.

READ:Rico Blanco shares rare cuddling photo with Maris Racal on her birthday

After going public with their relationship last year, Rico shared what made him fall in love with her.

“Siguro when I mention positive traits of Maris as a girlfriend, this does not mean I’m putting down yung mga exes ko or other girlfriends out there. Hindi naman. Ang bawat tao naman ay may maganda and unique traits and good traits about them. Ang gusto ko kay Maris is she doesn’t even realize it but nakaka-happy eh yung vibe niya. It’s something that I think is normal to them magkakapatid. Because I hung out with the sisters also and the family and even with Maris’s mom and that’s the vibe, parang barkada. It’s the same vibe when you’re hanging out with your friends. So parang ganun. It’s really like that kahit kaming dalawa lang.

“Of course there are days when we’re down di ba and it happens to her, it happens to me too. But in general ang positive so I think yung vibe it brings out the best in me. Yung positive side ko nalalabas din kasi nakakalimutan ko din na I’m playful pala. There’s a bit of child-like fun in every person and then she brings that out,” he explained.

READ: Rico Blanco says he is open to becoming a PBB housemate: ‘Why not?’

When asked how he sees the future of their relationship, Rico admitted he is excited to live his life with Maris in it as well as the public who look forward to updates about their relationship.

“Years from now I hope that the relationship is deeper and richer with so much more memories, music, active projects and stories. And it seems like we’re going to take everyone on this journey with us kasi parang ganun na eh (laughs). You’re part of this journey and of course there are things that are sa amin lang and private lang but I’m hoping lang na it’s going to be more fun pa and more stories in the future,” he added.

Watch Rico Blanco and Maris Racal in The Bitter Hopia episode of The Goodbye Girl. Produced by Dreamscape Entertainment and Clever Minds Inc., The Goodbye Girl starts streaming on February 14, with a new episode dropping daily on the iWantTFC app (iOs and Android) and website (iwanttfc.com).