Former couple Gerald Anderson and Bea Alonzo crossed paths at the 2019 ABS-CBN Ball, just two months after their breakup. They had attended the previous three editions of the ball together. Twitter: @starmagicphils, @metrochannelph

MANILA — Bea Alonzo crossed paths with Gerald Anderson only once after their breakup — and she wanted to slap him.

Alonzo sparked the controversy surrounding their separation in July 2019, when she hinted at Anderson’s supposed infidelity through social media and then accused him of “ghosting” her.

At the time, Anderson’s “Between Maybes” co-star Julia Barretto became the target of criticisms for supposedly causing the breakup. Barretto had just confirmed her own breakup with Joshua Garcia a month prior in June.

Two months later in September, Alonzo, Anderson, Barretto, and Garcia arrived solo at the annual ABS-CBN Ball. Alonzo and Anderson, and Barretto and Garcia had attended the previous three editions of the ball as a pair, respectively.

It was at the same event where Alonzo first saw Anderson in person again after their split, she recalled in an interview with Mega’s G3 San Diego released on Thursday.

“Nakita ko ‘yung likod niya nu’ng ball pero na-traffic kami, hindi ko na s’ya nakita and medyo nakainom pa naman ako noon,” Alonzo said.

“I would’ve slapped him. I would have,” she added.

That confrontation didn’t transpire, but Alonzo, to this day, has a firm grasp of why she felt the urge to approach Anderson at the ball.

“Apart from, of course, the whole infidelity thing and the whole ghosting thing, I think I’m mad at him more because he gaslighted me,” she said.

Gerald Anderson and Bea Alonzo attend the 2017 Star Magic Ball together. Screenshot/Hidalgo Portraits

Anderson’s most recent statement about Alonzo was in March, in an interview with Boy Abunda. He described his past relationship with Alonzo as “toxic.” In the same tell-all, he confirmed his current romance with Barretto.

“Until now, he’s not holding himself accountable,” Alonzo said. “That’s what really gets me. He has not changed. Not a bit. He was only protecting himself. He’s selfish.”

“I can’t even find the words to describe that man,” she said.

Alonzo admitted that before Anderson, she had “always been into self-preservation when it comes to relationships.”

“It was the first time that I really let myself go and just love fully… Maybe because it’s our second chance and I didn’t want it to fail,” she said.

Alonzo and Anderson, both homegrown talents of ABS-CBN’s Star Magic, had a short-lived romance in 2010.

She would call Anderson “my great love story” during their rekindled relationship, saying she has fallen in love with him twice.

“To be honest, when he ghosted me, para akong na-scam,” Alonzo now said. “As in like, when I posted what I posted, it felt like a weight off my shoulder. Parang I felt I was able to get my power back. Parang naisip ko, in my head, ‘Let me show you who I really am,’”

Alonzo was referring to her Instagram post in July 2019 where she said, “Enough,” and which spurred the controversy surrounding her separation with Anderson.

“Siguro ‘yung baon ko talaga is not to let myself be cheated on that way ever again, by anybody. I will never subject myself anymore to that type of relationship,” she said.