With her impressive wit and astounding versatility as an actress and host, there’s definitely no doubt that Gelli de Belen is one of the most well-loved personalities in local showbiz. And we’re able to learn a bit more about her, especially with regards to her career journey and personal life during her guesting in the latest vlog of her nanay-nanayan, veteran actress Maricel Soriano.

Their lighthearted conversation commenced with Gelli recounting how her showbiz career started by playing the young counterpart of her older sister Janice de Belen’s characters in movies. She initially didn’t have an interest in being an actress, as it was all fun and games for her since she was still a little girl then, until she eventually found herself enjoying acting and working in front of the camera while earning money at the same time.

The two actresses then looked back on her fun experiences and memorable moments while filming some of the films she starred in through the years, such as “Love At First Sight” (1990), “Gagay” (1993), and “The Secrets of Sarah Jane Salazar” (1994). They also reminisced about the stories behind some of the old and recent pictures involving her that were shown to her that marked some of the important events in her life.

Gelli then talked about the struggles and joys of being a mom to her two sons, Joaquin Andres and Julio Alessandro, with her singer-actor husband Ariel Rivera. Both Joaquin and Julio are currently based in Canada, where they live with their paternal grandmother and pursue their education. Even though it’s difficult for them to be miles away from them, she’s proud that they’re able to stand on their own and earn their own money by working and establishing their own biko or rice cake business, using the recipe passed on to them by their dad’s parents.

Photo credit to Ariel Rivera IG

Now in their 20s, she mentioned that both Joaquin and Julio already have romantic affairs. As a mom, she advised them to treat their girlfriends well, always have respect, and be conscious of how they and their loved ones are going to feel about his actions. Besides, they must also never put themselves into something for which they’re not completely ready yet. However, it’s Ariel who’s usually in charge of discussing romantic affairs with them since they’re all males and she has the tendency to still treat them as babies.

Since they are now considered “empty nesters,” Gelli noticed how she and Ariel have developed a renewed bond as they get to spend a lot of time together, along with their precious dog Nugget.

Being together for more than 30 years already – they officially became a couple in 1992 and then got married in 1997 – Maricel asked her how they’re able to maintain their happy relationship. Gelli remarked that a huge chunk of it is probably because he always puts their family as his top priority before anything else.

Photo credit to Gelli de Belen IG

“Pareho kami ng gusto sa buhay, na kapag sinabi naming ang pamilya ang priority, totoong ang pamilya ang priority. Tapos masaya lang kaming magkasama. Malaking bagay din siguro na parang kaibigan ko rin siya. Hindi lang kami loving-loving, enjoy din kaming mag-usap talaga. Masaya lang,” she stated.

Despite being together for more than three decades, Gelli is absolutely delighted that Ariel has been consistent in being sweet to her now that they’ve been together for a really, really long time. He’s also such a gentleman and takes good care of her well-being, even though there are times that they have to be far away from each other because of work.

Their fun and lighthearted chikahan commenced with Gelli expressing her wish for Ariel to have good health always and for them to be together forever and continue living a happy, healthy, and comfortable life with their kids.