Here's why Vicki Belo forgave Hayden Kho after the 2009 video scandal

Vicki Belo and Hayden Kho had a tell-all interview, touching on sensitive topics like the video scandal of 2009, and more importantly, how they healed thereafter.

In an episode on Toni Gonzaga's vlog, the now-happily married couple did not hesitate in opening up about that season of their relationship.

According to Vicki, she already knew what happened even before the video scandal blew up.

"You know, what people don’t understand is nalaman ko everything in December 2008. Parang we went through it together. So December I found out, we broke up January, February, March, April. We were apart for 4 months," Vicki said.

In 2008, they broke up because of some issues, and later that year, Hayden received extortion attempts.

"‘Okay you give me this much, otherwise we’ll release this, the videos ganyan-ganyan.’ Basta binigyan ko siya ng kailangan niyang gawin para ma-prove sa 'kin na ‘yon lang copy [niya]," Hayden said.

"Hindi siya willing to negotiate, so the guy released it on my birthday, May 20," he added.

"So every week naglalabas sila, di ko alam kung sino. Naglalabas sila ng videos again and again," he continued.

When it hit the public, Hayden felt a rollercoaster of negative emotions.

"Walang words to describe it. It’s a mixture of — definitely there’s a lot of humiliation. There’s a lot of fear and there’s a feeling of desperation, na 'what am I gonna do to fix this?'" He tried to explain.

"When your dark life is exposed to the light, medyo nakakatakot talaga," he added.

But Hayden said, he was able to survive it because of his family, Vicki, and God.

"Kung ako lang, on my own, I won’t be able to survive. So I think, my family, Vicki — interestingly siya ‘yung na-offend ko, siya pa ‘yung ka-help ko doon — and most importantly, people might find this corny, but it’s really God," he said.

"Looking back, now I realize that it’s very true that sometimes God allows you to go through shameful things because that’s actually grace and mercy. Na ‘yun na lang ang papa-experience niya sa 'yo just to wake you up," he added.

Vicki admitted that she almost forgot about herself at that time as she was very worried about Hayden.

The celebrity doctor recalled learning about the videos on December 8, 2008. "Dumating tayo from the Pacquiao fight, and then December 9, 10 — He tried to kill himself that night," Vicki revealed.

"His friends told me about what was going on, kasi I had suspected about one girl  because I [had] confronted him."

When Hayden denied it, she believed him. "But when I saw the videos — it was there already."

Vicki narrated how one his Hayden's best friends took him to dinner and told him how they had already informed Vicki about "everything that's been going on."  

"'She’s of course breaking up with you, and then we got all your hard drives'," Vicki continued. "So that same evening already, he decided to kill himself."

"What people don’t know, is that, for three days, he didn’t wake up. So I was — who else was gonna take care of him 'di ba? So I was the one."

According to Vicki, a neurologist did an EEG on Hayden, which showed very low brainwave energy. Should Hayden wake up, he might wake up a vegetable.

"I really prayed so hard. I went to the chapel, I prayed. I was like, 'Mama Mary, if you just make him normal, I won’t leave him'," Vicki said.

Miraculously, Hayden woke up on the third day of his coma as they pulled out his catheter.

Vicki forgave Hayden because "I was very sure that Hayden was very kind. There was no problem with me."

She shared how Hayden had been molested as a child, and "and that part of him that he talk to me about, parang that part of him really molded everything after that," she said. He didn't even tell his parents about it.

With nowhere to process what happened to him as a child, "ang nangyari, parang he’s good pero in his mind, he felt so dirty," Vicki explained.

"I know this guy is capable of so much, kaya lang he got the wrong breaks when he was young and he couldn’t control it," she added.

While she loved him, at the back of her mind, Vicki thought they won't end up together. "I know God will help him get [it] together but until that time, naga-alalay lang naman ako," she said.

Vicki knew she wouldn't be able to change Hayden for what he is. "I know naman I couldn’t, I tried my best," she said. "Nothing worked until God came into his life."

For Hayden, his point of surrender was meeting his mentor, Ravi Zacharias, who would later on minister their 2017 wedding.

Hayden said, "You can’t know what love is without understanding, who Christ is."

"I experienced God’s love through my wife Vicki," he added. 

Hayden and Vicki tied the knot in a lavish wedding ceremony in Paris in 2017. They have one child together, Scarlet Snow.

Hayden was involved in a video scandal in 2009. — Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/LA, GMA News

If you or anyone you know need to talk to someone, Hopeline, the 24/7 suicide prevention hotline, may be reached at (02) 8804-4673; 0917-5584673.