CEBU, Philippines - “Who would have thought? The classmates in college who didn’t talk to one another will end up with each other years after,” went an Instagram post of TV host-socialite Divine Lee last August 6 to mark her first year with boyfriend Blake Nelson Go.
Just a month after that first anniversary, the society pair got engaged Sunday when the Cebuano businessman got down on one knee and popped the question during a candlelight dinner at the Ayana Resort and Spa in Bali, Indonesia. Divine and Blake were in Bali to attend a friend’s weekend wedding, according to Pep.ph.
The eternally bubbly Divine posted in jest on her Instagram: “Sa lahat ng araw na hindi ako nag-manicure. Akala ko ba no surprises? Akala ko kakain ako ng lechon.”
“The problem with having a girlfriend who laughs at everything is that mahirap kumuha ng maayos na sagot,” added Divine, who was famously in a three-year relationship with actor-model Victor Basa before they broke up in April 2015.
Blake, known in Cebu society as among its eligible bachelors, hails from the prominent Fil-Chinese Go family of the Prince Warehouse Club chain of supermarkets and department stores in Visayas and Mindanao.
He went to Sacred Heart School Cebu and then studied Business and Retail Management at Oxford Brookes University in London, where he graduated with honors.
Aside from his role in the family business, Blake started his own ventures, including a burger chain and a few night spots.
Blake talked about what he notices first in a girl in a 2013 interview with Zee Lifestyle magazine. “I look into the eyes, that’s what really captures my attention. But of course, it comes down to personality. I like intelligence, because I really like to talk– I talk a lot. So I want to be able to talk about anything and know we’ll understand each other. She has to have a sense of humor, and of course, I’ll notice if she’s really hot.”
In a phone interview with Pep.ph a day after the proposal, Divine said she was still in a daze and called their engagement a case of right timing.
“Oo nga, nagmamadali si Kuya, charot!,” said Divine, when their relationship of only a year was pointed out. “Hindi. Alam ko yung feeling ng mahabang relasyon, di ba? Bakit pa namin patatagalin? Tsaka hindi naman na ako 16. Thirty-four na kami pareho. Mag-classmate kami at magka-edad.”
“Nung lumuhod na, wala na akong narinig. Tawa na ako nang tawa. So, nung tinatanong na niya ako, hindi ko rin naman maintindihan yung mga sinasabi niya. Nung naghihintay na siya ng sagot, ang sagot ko lang, ‘Renewable ba ‘to?’ Wala, natawa na rin siya kasi alam naman niya na comedy naman talaga ako,” shared Divine.
If they decide to hold the wedding in Cebu, Divine said she prefers a ceremony by the beach.
Divine told Pep.ph that she and Blake were college classmates but barely talked to one another. As fate would have it, they bumped into each other last year during an event of Ronald Singson in Boracay. (FREEMAN)