***Trigger warning: Domestic abuse***
Just a few weeks before we close the year 2023, another controversy intrigued the whole nation. This time, Herlene Budol and Rob Gomez are both in the spotlight for allegedly *leaked* screenshots of their conversations detailing private matters.
In one of the screenshots, Herlene and Rob were presumably talking about Herlene taking a pregnancy test. But the beauty queen-actress quickly shut down pregnancy speculations in a tweet.
Herlene aggressively commented on the speculations. "Showbiz nga talaga! Pag dedicated ka sa trabaho. gagawan ka ng issue! Dati asa #wowowin gumawa ng issue na buntis daw ako. Ngayon naman sa #MagandangDilag may issue uli na buntis ako uli? Ano susunod? Sa #BlackRider mabubuntis ako uli?" she wrote on X (formerly Twitter.)
However, netizens pointed out that the issue isn't about her pregnancy at all—but the supposedly being involved with Rob. ICYDK, Rob is reportedly in a relationship with another beauty queen, Shaila Rebortera. They are parents to their firstborn, Amelia.
Rob issued a statement to PEP.ph arguing that the person who posted the photos had the intention to destroy his reputation. Moreover, he described his co-stars involved in the controversy as some of the people who cheered for him when he was going through some hardships in life.
"Please be advised that my phone was taken and used it without my consent on December 20, 2023 from 12:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Worse is that the person who took my phone posted pictures of mine in my own social media account pretending that I posted it with the intention of destroying my reputation. The videos as shown were among my friends and co-stars who was trying to cheer me up when I was going through a lot of hurdles in my life," his statement read.
The screenshots did associate Herlene, but another beauty queen-actress, Bianca Manalo. It was seen in the screenshots how Bianca allegedly had planned an early morning meet-up with Rob. Unlike Herlene and Rob, Bianca has remained silent amid the issue.
Herlene, Rob, and Bianca were co-stars in a GMA teleserye called Magandang Dilag. Herlene and Rob were each other's love interest in the show.
This is not the first time that Rob had controversial issues with women. Earlier this year, Shaila exposed him for being a physically abusive partner. She posted photos of alleged domestic abuse by Rob, which went viral. It all came after Rob announced that he was single in an interview with Boy Abunda last August 3, 2023.
"I've always been told to wait for the perfect time to tell the world about you. However, I realized, there is no such thing as 'perfect time'. We only have one life to experience these moments and it is in our hands to make these moments perfect," she said in her now-deleted post.
Weeks after Shaila's viral post, Rob publicly apologized to Shaila and their daughter for denying their existence in the said interview. Interestingly, netizens noticed that Herlene even commented a *heart emoji* in Rob's apology post to his family.
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