Maris Racal says Anthony Jennings told her he was single

Maris Racal on Friday claimed that Anthony Jennings told her he was single when they were first starting their relationship.

In a video statement posted by ABS-CBN News, the actress admitted that she started to have feelings for Anthony back in June, and as a result broke up with her longtime boyfriend, Rico Blanco. 

Upon telling Anthony this news, he also told her that he broke up with his girlfriend, Jamela Villanueva.

Maris said that Anthony would act sweet towards her, and "tease me on the set in front of other people."

“He would tell all the people close to me that he was single,” she added. “So I was confident to act a certain way around him on the set because in the eyes of the people there, we were both single.”

During their trip to Italy in September, their relationship deepened, Maris recounted. When they were flying home, she said she “felt so happy,” and wanted to post on her Instagram Story to show appreciation to Anthony.

However, Jamela reposted some cryptic content about relationships.

Upon seeing this, Maris then messaged Anthony, “Kumusta si Jam?” as seen in the viral screenshots.

“Nangamusta ako kay Jam. It wasn’t because alam ko na sila pa, dahil alam ko na she was going through something and Anthony had to take care of her,” Maris said.

But at that time, Maris said that she and Anthony still had work and he still acted sweet towards her.

“I would ask him—God knows I would ask him—‘nagkabalikan ba kayo?’ He said no. ‘Do you still love her?’ He said no. He would say things na ako ‘yung gusto niya and all,” Maris said.

“I really asked him so many times,” she added.

It was during this time that Maris said she starting getting bashed on TikTok. Maris got hurt and then asked Anthony, “When are you gonna release a statement na wala na kayo? When? Because in the eyes of the public, you are taken, but I know that you’re not.”

Anthony told Maris that he was waiting for the right moment.

“I didn’t want to be pushy," Maris said. "I didn’t want to aggravate things. So I waited and kept quiet, because it wasn’t my story to tell anyway.”

On Halloween, Maris and Anthony went out “na medyo sweet kami sa isa’t isa.” The next day, Jam posted on her Instagram Story. Although she did not mention any names, the public thought she was pertaining to Maris and Anthony, then came another round of bashing.

“God knows how many times I begged for a statement. I begged him to fix this because I was so tired of getting bashed,” Maris said. Anthony again said that he was waiting for the right moment.

“I wanted to speak up, but it wasn’t my story and I would look really pathetic,” she added.

Anthony ended up releasing a statement days later at a press conference that he had broken up with Jam, but for Maris, it was “too late.”

“At that time, I was slowly distancing myself from him romantically. The infatuation and the attraction died. But thank you for the statement,” Maris said.

Maris said that she was embarrassed by the screenshots being released. When she saw them, she was able to connect the dots.

“Kaya pala hindi siya makapag-release ng statement, kasi sila pa pala this whole entire time. I didn’t know. I was in the dark. I didn’t know, I had no idea,” Maris said.

“Dun ko na-realize bakit ganun ‘yung reactions ni Jam. Now, I get her. I get her pain. I get her wrath. I get her anger... Kaya pala ganun—because she was clueless about everything. I was clueless about everything. We both believed kung ano ‘yugn nasabi sa ‘min. Maybe iba ‘yung sinabi sa kanya. And I can attest na iba ‘yung sinasabi sa ‘kin.”

Maris also said that she reached out to Jam. “I did not get a reply. I think that was last November. I guess I wanted to know what’s up.”

On Tuesday night, Jam rocked the internet after she took to Instagram Stories to expose Anthony's alleged cheating with Maris, sharing screenshots of their conversations on Instagram.

Maris and Anthony made waves for their tandem as Irene and Snoop in the series, “Can’t Buy Me Love.”

The two are part of the upcoming Metro Manila Film Festival entry "And the Breadwinner Is..." starring Vice Ganda. —Nika Roque/JCB, GMA Integrated News