Model and Pinoy Big Brother winner Daniel Matsunaga has a lot to be thankful for – he is now a permanent Philippine resident, an exciting showbiz career, and most of all, a blooming romantic life.
“I love the Philippines, everything from food to [the] people. The culture and the climate are almost the same with Brazil so it’s easy for me to adjust,” the 26-year-old model-actor told The Standard and other members of the press during the launch of Kix Asia Channel’s R U Tough Enough (RUTE) at SM Megamall.
He said that he’s very overwhelmed when he was asked to be the ambassador of RUTE (Kix’s Channels nationwide search for “the toughest Pinoy”) because the action channel doesn’t just see him as a celebrity but as someone who can epitomize toughness and the spirit of a champion.
At the event, together with Moises Torcator, a strongman from Manila, Daniel pulled a truck loaded with 18 Kix girls for a distance of 18 meters to demonstrate their toughness.
I am an athlete, I play football and I go to the gym every day. I guess they see me as a tough and strong person that’s why they decided to collaborate with me,” Daniel related.
Meanwhile, he recently signed an exclusive contract with ABS-CBN. Part of his first assignments is a soap opera together with girlfriend, Erich Gonzales.
Although he can only divulge so much, Daniel said people will see a different side of him. Fans will have a glimpse of his emotional side and of course his romantic side since he is sharing the top billing with his real life girlfriend.
“I’m just excited about this project because it’s with Erich. I love working with her. I was single for three years because I couldn’t find someone I’d be comfortable with. Erich is such a wonderful person. She’s religious and family-oriented. That’s what I love about her,” he said smiling.
The pair recently went on a vacation to Paris and Amsterdam. They posted photos of themselves dancing at the Eiffel Tower. This made fans of the celebrity couple speculate that the model-actor may already have proposed to the Kapamilya actress.
“At this point in our relationship, we are just enjoying each other’s company. I always get questions about our wedding plans because a lot of showbiz couples have exchanged vows recently. Well, we can wait. These newlyweds serve as inspiration to us, showbiz couples can really end up in marriage. All I can say is, Erich is an answered prayer. I waited 3 years for this relationship to happen,” the Brazilian-Japanese beamed.
Enrique first to Liza’s heart
Enrique Gil had been paired with a few Kapamilya stars before he and Liza Soberano became onscreen partners. He said he didn’t give his 100 percent that’s why his previous love teams didn’t click.
couple yet, but may get to that later
Also, the 23-year-old Star Magic talent said that he wanted to go solo and he didn’t want to get stuck with a love team to begin with. He though it was best for his career until he was paired with Liza. Since becoming the other half of LizQuen (the portmanteau coined by their fans), he started receiving feedback from fans and colleagues that he is beginning to look different on screen. They observed that he acts differently and he looks very comfortable.
“Then I realized, probably may something talaga sa amin ni Liza. The chemistry is obvious and our love team has been doing a lot of good things for our career,” Enrique told the press during the contract-signing with Cloudfone, his latest endorsement.
When asked to elaborate on what he meant by “something,” the young actor just replied that he has already answered that when he guested in Gandang Gabi Vice.
“Let’s just put it this way, ako ang unang nakapila sa puso ni Liza,” he smiled.
According to Enrique, he and Liza have a new movie in the offing. It’s a follow up to their box office hit movie Just the Way You Are that earned more than P100 million at the tills.
“Liza is in the US, we’re just waiting for her to come back and then we’ll have a meeting about the new movie,” he ended.