MANILA — Carmina Villaroel realized Zoren Legaspi was the man she wanted to marry when they once broke up, the celebrity couple recalled.

The topic came up when Villaroel and Legaspi were interviewed by their children, Mavy and and Cassy, in a recent episode of “Sarap, ‘Di Ba?”.

Villaroel, 45, mentioned once separating from Legaspi when Mavy asked them when they realized they were “the one” for each other.

“Noong nawala siya, kasi parang nag-break kami for a while, e,” the actress said. “Noong nawala siya, doon ko na-realize. ‘Di ba iyon ‘yung sinasabi nila — 'pag nawala na… Ang dami mong realizations when the person is gone.”

“Noong nawala si Zoren for a while, doon ko na-realize na, ‘Oh my gosh, I think he’s the one.’”

Legaspi, 48, did not provide a particular instance when the same realization hit him, but did recount the same breakup his wife referred to.

He explained to the 20-year-old twins that while they were never officially a couple — “parang best friends,” he said — there came a time when they decided to part ways for a while.

Villaroel, in a 2014 interview on “Kris TV,” said that the “cool-off” period with Legaspi lasted “months.”

“That time, I wasn’t really ready to have a serious commitment,” Villaroel said at the time.

When Villaroel and Legaspi started their romance in 2000, the actress had just separated from her former husband, Rustom Padilla, who has since transitioned as a transgender woman.

Referring to Legaspi, Villaroel said: “Pero with him, and with that cooling off period, parang I felt na, ‘Siya talaga.’ Mararamdaman mo talaga. Akala ko sa mga pelikula o libro lang. Hindi ako naniniwala sa ganoon. But you just feel it. I don’t know how to describe it, pero mararamdaman mo na, ‘Siya talaga ‘yung gusto ko makasama for the rest of my life.’”

Villaroel and Legaspi finally got married in November 2012 — just three months after “legalities” involving the actress’ previous marriage with Padilla were cleared — with Mavy and Cassie participating in a surprise grand ceremony prepared by their father.

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