MANILA, Philippines — Rhian Ramos was more than willing to clear up some online speculations about her relationship with her boyfriend, the businessman-congressman Sam Versoza, and with her best friend, fellow Kapuso actress and newly crowned Miss Universe Philippines Michelle Dee.
In an interview following the presscon of her upcoming primetime drama Royal Blood (premiering on June 19), Rhian shared how she’s supporting her housemate and bestie in her Miss Universe 2023 journey.
“We’re a very big group of friends who just want her to achieve all her dreams. I don’t know yet where she could possibly need me but whenever she asks, I try to,” Rhian, who’s attending the Miss Universe coronation in El Salvador, told The STAR.
She also expressed her pride in Michelle’s decision to come out as a bisexual in a Mega magazine interview.
Rhian said she knew Michelle was ready by the time she decided to do so because they had this talk many times in the past and “it was always a question for her” to publicly come out or not.
“And I’m like, what feels right for you, you can’t ask me, you have to know. Because she was already pondering about it, ‘Do I just tell people because I feel like they know naman?’… So, finally, when this happened, she wasn’t asking me about it anymore, she just said, ‘Guess, what’s happening next week?’ She was like, ‘I’m coming out.’”
On how their group of friends reacted, Rhian further shared, “It doesn’t change anything for us in our friend group because we’ve always known. But it does really make us very proud that she, you know, can take control over her story.
“And it’s been true with people. I mean, sometimes, you would think that if you’re a celebrity, if you’re a beauty queen or something, parang you have to give people what’s the most saleable version of yourself.
“What she’s giving people is the real authentic her, which also took me so many years. She’s just so advanced. So, I’m really proud of the maturity that she has. That she can, with no fear, show people really exactly what she is and not allow anyone to call you her into being outed by some stranger on the Internet, ‘di ba?
“Your sexuality is personal to you. It’s not for anyone else to out you. Ayun, there are certain topics in our lives that need to come from you. So, I’m glad to see her take control,” Rhian said.
When it was pointed out to the Kapuso star that the reactions online couldn’t be reined in, however, as she and other actresses were dragged and being linked to Michelle, she commented, “Yes, marami pang iba. Sabi ko, girl, babaero ka ba (laughs)? Bakit ang daming nali-link sayo? So, we just joked about it. Wala naman dun totoo. I mean, I would know.”
Their friendship added color to the Miss Universe Philippines pageant itself because it so happened that her boyfriend, who was part of the judging panel, got picked to ask Michelle the question during the coronation night.
“It really was (a coincidence)!” laughingly recalled Rhian. “I was super praying, like, ‘Lord, ‘wag niyo ibigay kay Sam yung tanong ni Michelle.’ Pero hindi eh, yun talaga, yun ang nangyari. Fishbowl na yung nag-decide.
“You know what, if I could have helped her win, eh ‘di sana last year pa. Sasayang pa ba ako ng one more year?” she said of Michelle, who was Miss Universe Philippines 2022 first runner-up.
Speaking of her boyfriend Sam, Rhian broke into a wide smile when she confirmed that she’s “very happy” with her love life.
Asked if she was finally able to adjust to being a politico’s girlfriend, she said, “I think what finally got me adjusted was to see the fulfillment at the end of the day when something works out the way that you wanted it to. I’ll admit, I was like, wala ito sa usapan ha, I thought I was dating a businessman? I didn’t have the most positive reaction.
“But it’s really more of when something good happens and he’s done good because he really has a heart for other people… and I know this because before, it was the charity work, he was always planning charity work. And so now, when he’s in congress, and he comes home and he goes, ‘You know what happened today?’ And then, he has this super fulfilled, happy look on his face, I’m like, ‘Okay. Okay, fine. I’m happy for you and I will support you.’ This is something I will support because I can see he’s fulfilling his purpose.”
Rhian admitted that they did break up, although she didn’t reveal for how long. Asked what made them reconcile by this paper, she shared, “There was a lot of talking. I guess, the biggest realization for me was that communication really can fix everything.
“Lahat ng bagay ma-aayos pala sa maayos na usapan. I think it’s important for everyone to learn but not a lot of us naman have the best communication skills. Sometimes, we’re upset that we can’t even say what’s wrong, and we don’t even know. So, yeah, it was a lot of talking on so many different topics. Like there were things na pwede rin naman palang ganun lang.”