When news broke out that James Reid and Nadine Lustre called it quits, we felt the earth moved under our collective feet.
JaDine’s real breakup after starting as a reel coupling in movies and television shows felt like a strong jab, or a slap even.
Something inside all of us wanted to scream. No, not them! Is this for real? Why is this so? Queries popped in our minds simply because we are all too familiar with the reality that ending a relationship is no walk in the park.
And Reid and Lustre, who are larger than life millennial idols, putting an exclamation point to a well-chronicled and documented showbiz romance, made us all baffled and bewildered.
Romantic love no longer has a fighting chance in this day and age.
Why do we love this former couple? Well, they are “real” to most of us who adore and idolize them. You know, they are not too saccharine like the duo of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla. Definitely not too orchestrated like the curious case of the phenomenal love team that was, Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza. Not too cotton candy-ish, satisfying yet unhealthy like the pairing of Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil.
With JaDine, we loved the fact that Reid is “prettier” than Lustre which is so reminiscent and can be compared to that of Leonardo di Caprio and Claire Danes bombastic collaboration in Baz Lhurman’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Reid’s Australian accented manner of reciting his lines, whether in Filipino and in English, added more beauty to his obvious allure and machismo.
Yes, that he is good, no great looking is the biggest bonus of them all. He is irresistible and we understand why Lustre, and majority of us, fell for him.
Lustre is no plain Jane, of course. She is not traditionally pretty but her charm grows on you. She also possesses a lot of spunk, and there is a palpable earthiness about her that makes more appealing.
When the breakup was made official, something inside me was crushed and a pain engulfed and suffocated my being. It was as if two of my dearest friends, whom I thought will walk down the aisle, share their happily ever after, raise kids and grow old together, broke their vow that is supposedly stronger than love and friendship.
To further torture myself, I watched repeatedly a former episode of JaDine’s mammoth television drama hit, On The Wings of Love, the breakup scene of Clark and Lea.
As the two characters revealed the many reasons why and why not they should stay together, Lea poured her heart out and Clark adamant with his convictions, I couldn’t help but wonder, are their fights behind the camera more devastating?
As Clark and Lea, Reid and Lustre played their characters with a lot of sincerity and an emotional commitment that seemed way above their ages at that time they portrayed the roles and the experiences they have encountered in the romance and love department. And despite their seemingly juvenile stature, they pulled the scene off.
This baring of the soul and exposing their gut was of course, more shattering when they did Gio Smith and Joanne Candelaria in the millennial incarnation of Sana’y Maulit Muli, the classic movie that starred Aga Muhlach and Lea Salonga, becameNever Not Love You.
Reid and Lustre were dynamic, exhausting, and truthful to the very core of their characters’ reasons for living and surviving.
What happens now that their romance has come to an end? Will there be no more film and television projects with them headlining it?
Reid is bound to do Soulmates with Momoland’s Nancy McDonie.
Lustre parades her fierce and fun side, with a lot of provocative pictorials donning a bikini. If she becomes the lead star ofAntoinette Jadaone’s Boldstar, it will not come as a surprise. She is ripe and ready for that kind of role.
Celebrities like Robi Domingo, Bianca Gonzales, Iza Calzado, and Jed Madela were all vocal in their expression of disbelief and unhappiness about JaDine’s parting of ways. Will this certain sadness linger on not only for them but for most of us?
With this farewell to love and romance, what becomes of the brokenhearted? To the one who does not love anymore? To the one who feels lucky to be free? Answers, anyone?
James Reid and Nadine Lustre, what say you?