MANILA (UPDATED) -- Kapamilya actress Maris Racal confirmed on Friday that she and her boyfriend, singer-composer Rico Blanco, have broken up.  

"Rico and I are over," she said after she was asked in the Star Magic Spotlight event how she weighs her personal life and fame with on-screen partner Anthony Jennings after their stint in "Can't Buy Me Love."

"I'm so scared, I'm really scared," Racal emotionally told the press. "Ang dami kasing tanong about him and I am tired of smiling and nodding."  

"I'm so scared because If I announce it, it's real," she added. 

According to the actress, her five-year relationship with Blanco was full of love and laughter, which she thought would never end.

"Rico and I, our universe is so beautiful. It was full of love, laughter and music and everything, spontaneity everything. Sa five years namin together, we were always on the same page. Always on the same page. I don't know what happened to me. Maybe I turned to the next page, saw new perspective sa life. I had a vision of who I want to become, how I want to evolve. So curious about the world, and the truth is I am going through changes and alam naman natin na changes either good or bad and what I hate about change is it's inevitable. Hindi mo siya matatakasan and wala ka nang ibang gagawin kung 'di to face it and confront it," she explained.

"I told Rico about it and, I told him my problems my issues sa buhay and he took it like a man," she said. 

Without giving details on how the separation happened, the actress stressed that it was a "polite" separation.  

"It was a very difficult talk because I love him so much. I love him and he loves me din, but I have so many questions about my life and how will I go on sa buhay with him. I have so many questions about me, my sense of self that was so difficult. But it was very polite separation," she said emotionally.  

Describing her five-year relationship with the singer-composer, Racal said it was full of love and one-of-a-kind.  

"Up to the very end of our relationship, it was still full of love, full of understanding and Rico is one of a kind. If I could only skip through my 20s you know, but I can't. I have to face it, I have to sit with my feelings and acknowledge my changes," she said. 

While confirming her breakup with Blanco, the actress also wants to clarify that her on-screen partner Jennings is "out of the picture."  

"It's mainly me and Rico. Mainly me, I'm the issue," she said.  

In the end, the actress asked the public for understanding as she and Blanco face the next chapter of their lives.   

"This is the only time I ever talk about it. And I humbly ask the public to look at us, Rico and I, with understanding and love because we are both grieving. Hindi naman mako-control 'yung mga opinion ng mga tao, but please don't direct your hate towards Rico, because he's too precious for that. If guys want to throw so much, I am ready to take them," she said.  

Blanco and Racal confirmed their relationship in May 2021, two years after collaborating on a music single.  

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