Ashley Ortega just got candid about her friendship with former co-star Xian Lim, who recently hogged headlines over the alleged breakup with his girlfriend of 12 years, Kim Chiu.
When Ashley and Xian starred in Heart On Ice, they were not spared from rumors. However, Ashley asserted that the controversies did not affect them in any way.
"Actually 'yung mga intriga naman noon, it was a long time ago. Hindi naman kami nagpaapekto. We kept our environment healthy, at 'yun naman po ang importante. At wala naman talaga kaming ginawang masama," she said. "Siguro may fans lang, mga solid fans nila ni Kim, but I respect them," Ashley added.
The Kapuso actress also shared that the issues just became a laughing matter between her and Xian, since there's no truth to it all. "It was just a waste of time to talk about it kaya dinedma na lang namin. Natatawa na lang kami," she said.
Ashley also revealed that she met Kim once and that there was no awkwardness with her former co-star's girlfriend. "I met her. Kasi during Hearts On Ice days, nagkaroon sila ng movie ni Kim, and Xian invited me sa premiere night. That's where I met Kim."
She describes Kim as a kind person and sees her relationship with Xian, a strong one. "Mabait, mabait [si Kim]. At saka solid talaga sila," the actress shared.
If there's one thing that she learned from working with Xian, one would be how to handle bashers. She admitted to receiving a lot of negative comments while working with Xian, whom she considers one of the biggest stars in the industry. But it was no biggie for Ashley.
"Doon ko na-realize na kapag ang ka-love team mo malaking artista talaga, so deadma na lang. The best way to deal with it is just to avoid it, and huwag ngang magpaapekto, kasi alam ko naman sa sarili ko ang totoo," Ashley remarked.
"Nabigla rin ako, but not in a way na naapektuhan ako nang sobra. Okay naman ang relationship namin ni Xian [as co-workers]. Hindi kami nagkailangan. At sana nga, maka-work ko ulit si Xian," said Ashley.
Ashley was one of Xian's first leading ladies as a Kapuso actor. In 2021, Xian made a huge leap in his career as he switched networks from ABS-CBN to GMA. His departure as a Kapamilya meant fewer projects for his love team with Kim called KimXi. With this, some fans have been quite expressive about their dismay over their new onscreen partners.
Recently, Kim addressed persistent breakup rumors with Xian. The couple has been together for almost 12 years now and some netizens couldn't help but notice the absence of Xian in Kim's previous posts on social media. The two also went solo in some public events that sparked questions about their relationship.
But Kim remains positive about their strong relationship. "Baka nali-linlang lang kayo," she said before directly responding. "Okay naman kami ni Xi...Mapanlinlang ang showbiz pero maayos naman [kami], masaya naman po."
