Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla’s journey together has reached the end of the road.

The A-list couple—dubbed the most phenomenal love team of their generation—had the world at a standstill as they confirmed news of the breakup of their reel- and real-life tandem.

The tandem lasted, as Kathryn herself said, 12 years.

Those 12 years saw the love between Kathryn and Daniel being planted, go on to bloom, even thrive, go through storms, then bloom again.

But, now, it seems swept away for good.

And the famous stars have to go through the grief of true love ending right before the eyes of the world.

THE NEWS THAT SHOCKED THE WORLD

On November 30, 2023, Thursday, Kathryn shocked the world with an Instagram post containing a photo carousel.

It included screenshots of a lengthy statement admitting to the end of her partnership with Daniel “DJ” Padilla, her love-team partner of 12 years and boyfriend of 11.

The thoughtful letter addressed to the public showed Kathryn handling the breakup with grace.

It read in part:

“I’m well aware of the rumors and speculations going around, and as hard as it is to put everything into words, I want you to hear it straight from me: It’s true that Deej and I have decided to part ways.”

To go by her carefully worded statement, Kathryn has, indeed, given up.

“Like any other relationship, we tried our best to make it work. We’ve been drifting apart for a while now, and we ultimately had to accept that we can’t go back to where we used to be. It just won’t be fair to pretend that everything is still the same.”

Twenty-three minutes later, Daniel took to the same platform and uploaded two photos.

His poetic letter included in part: “Thank you for dancing with me during my highs and thank you for singing with me during my lows.

“Our lives may drift away, but our love will still ride that tide.”

Both Kath and DJ addressed the KathNiels, their collective fanbase that is a real and important part of their relationship.

Kath said to their devoted fans (published as is):

“Kathniels, we know you are hurting, and trust me, this also hurts us both more than you can imagine. The last thing we want is for this family to break apart with everyone taking sides—please don’t. Deej and I will continue to support each other as we try to heal and move forward from this. We will continue to love you and make you proud, but we hope you understand that this is something we really need. We hope you can join us in this healing process and not let those precious memories go to waste. Kaya natin to.”

For his part, DJ said (published as is):

“Kathniels, Maraming salamat sa pag mamahal ninyo. maraming salamat sa napaka gandang pinag samahan natin. Hinding hindi namin ipag papalit at hindi makukumpara kahit anong pang gawin nila. Hinding hindi nila pwedeng sirain yun. This is beyond show business. Pamilya kayo at mga kaibigan.”

KATHNIEL: WHERE DID IT START AND WHERE THEY ARE NOW?

Now that their 12 years have ended, fans and non-fans alike look back on this phenomenal pair.

PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) takes a trip down memory lane to chart the beginning and the end of a love story in this “KathNiel Timeline: Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla’s Relationship.”

2011: SIXTEEN GOING ON 17, KATH AND DJ GROWING UP

The KathNiel pairing would start in 2011 when Kathryn and Daniel starred as Ella and Patrick in the teen show Growing Up.

Kath was 16; DJ was 17.

The pairing almost did not happen because DJ was originally paired with Julia Montes, Kath’s co-star in the hit remake of Mara Clara.

Growing Up became the plot where seeds of love were planted.

In April 2017, Julia told Magandang Buhay that she noticed that Daniel had feelings for her Mara Clara sister, Kathryn.

“Nung Growing Up, ano sila, nagkukulitan, kasi mapang-asar ito [Daniel]. So, ako, personally, kinikilig na ako. Pero siyempre, grupo-grupo, aasaran muna, pero later makikita mo na.”

2012: PLANTING KATHNIEL LOVE ON TV

Their road to becoming A-List stars was lighting up: Kathryn and Daniel had chemistry onscreen.

Their first teleserye together, the 2012 Princess and I, shot in Bhutan, exceeded expectations in the ratings game.

In the teleserye, Kathryn plays Mikay, a teenager who grew up in the Philippines but who turns out to be the long-lost princess of the Yangdon kingdom.

She meets Gino, played by Daniel. The princess falls for the rich and arrogant teen.

As their show began hitting the highest ratings in its timeslot, love seemed to hit the two costars as well.

Together, KathNiel—with fellow rising stars Enrique Gil and Khalil Ramos—started cementing their place in showbiz and in each other’s hearts.

2012: HELLO, I LOVE YOU

It was on the set of Princess and I where Daniel began to show Kathryn his feelings.

On one of their taping days, the would-be screen heartthrob wrote “I love you” on tissue paper.

Kathryn would in time admit that she wrote the exact date and time in her notebook.

2013: BOX OFFICE LAUNCH FOR KATHNIEL

The 2013 film Must Be…Love! marked the love team’s first foray into box-office success.

The usual coming-of-age film served as a test of the pair’s pull with moviegoers. It’s one thing to have a hit TV show on free TV, it’s another thing altogether to top the tills with a movie the public is paying for!

2014: KATHNIEL AS BOX-OFFICE KING AND QUEEN

For those who took a gamble on the KathNiel pairing—Star Cinema, the film arm of ABS-CBN, and the sponsors—the risk paid off!

Star Cinema gambled again with a film adapted from a popular Bianca Bernardino-Wattpad story and helmed by Cathy Garcia-Molina, who would go on to make a name for herself as box-office director.

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Well-received by critics and fans alike, KathNiel’s second movie teamup, She’s Dating The Gangster, grossed PHP296 million.

This figure earned them the title of Box Office King and Queen in 2014.

2017: ON THE COVER OF YES! 100 MOST BEAUTIFUL STARS

Summit Media’s leading entertainment print publication, YES! Magazine, published annually a listing of the industry’s most beautiful.

This was a special project that took months to complete, with multiple research and interviews, discussions with industry players, and staff powwows about merits and demerits.

For a star to land on the cover, the star had to deserve it. A very opinionated entertainment industry will not let you get away with anything less.

YES! accompanied the profile of the winning star with photos sourced from several platforms—some photos produced by the magazine itself, some gathered from the star’s home network, and some owned by companies for which the celebrity was an endorser.

That year, 2017, saw not one but two stars on the cover: Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla!

Along with that came a multi-page photoshoot by the YES! editorial and production teams, with the cover unveiled at an event attended by a constellation of stars from three major networks, ABS-CBN, GMA7, TV5.

The two biggest stars of their generation were at centerstage on a beautiful night that had just seen them declared “2017’s Most Beautiful Stars.”

Asked recently what made YES! choose Kathryn and Daniel as 2017’s 100 Most Beautiful Cover Stars, Jo-Ann Maglipon—then YES! Editor in Chief and Summit Media’s Group Editorial Director—had this to say:

“There was something fresh and real and warm about KathNiel. They glowed.”

It was a glow that probably came from young love. Like a god and a goddess moving among lesser deities, Kathryn and Daniel, wrapped in their love for each other, were just stunning.

Naysayers keep thinking their romance was rehearsed for the box-office and the ratings. We, in YES! and PEP, came up close to the two, and all we saw was a brightness and joy.

Especially for the multitude of KathNiel fans, the two were a natural. And when they appeared as a chic young couple in coordinated black outfits on the cover of YES!, the naysayers were silenced.

2018: KATHNIEL’S FLEETING FIRST KISS

Which is why, when Kathryn and Daniel finally admitted the real score between them, it was sweet victory for the fans.

With their roots firmly planted on TV and movies after first getting together in Growing Up, and one year after being crowned showbiz’s Most Beautiful—Kathryn and Daniel admitted to being a couple offscreen.

At the presscon of their film, The Hows of Us, they revealed that they had been dating for more than five years.

According to our math, Daniel’s “I love you” on a piece of tissue in 2012 was thus answered with a “yes” by Kathryn that same year or at least by 2013!

Following this, the couple’s next social media posts, magazine shoots, advertising endorsements, and outside projects translated to the young couple’s bankability.

Perhaps their first grown-up film, The Hows of Us, signaled that Kath and DJ were ready for more than sweet and wholesome roles.

KathNiel revealed that some scenes in the movie were actually inspired by their boyfriend-girlfriend arguments.

And while Kathryn has kept secret what year this happened, she let slip that their first kiss as a real-life couple was almost funny.

“First kiss, super quick. No’ng tumalikod si Mommy,” Kath said, demonstrating a quick smack as her Mommy Min’s back was turned.

During her Tonight with Boy Abunda appearance in August 2018, Kath recalled: “Sabi ko, ‘Yon na yong first? Hindi ‘yon yong in-imagine ko!’ Pero yan. Super quick. Si Mama nando’n. ‘Tapos parang tumalikod lang po siya, may kinuha siya or something.”

JANUARY 2019: FROM BF-GF TO ENGAGED REAL QUICK?

In 2019, KathNiel visited Japan with family and friends. Kath’s Mommy Min was with them.

Soon rumors buzzed that a proposal must have happened in the Land of the Rising Sun because the famous mommy-manager had captioned her Instagram post so: “may nag-propose.”

Netizens began speculating that Daniel must have popped the big question to Kathryn. At the time, he was 24 and Kath was 23.

But, alas, the rumors remained just rumors, and no formal announcements were made. Quite the opposite, in fact. Kathryn thumbed down all talk as soon as they arrived in Manila.

In an interview, she said: “Nung pinakita yung [post ni Mommy Min], sabi ko, ‘Nakakaloka kayo, mababaliw yung mga tao.’ Hindi, hindi po talaga [nag-propose].”

Despite the denial, the female half of KathNiel admitted she was open to marrying DJ. However, she made clear that this wasn’t happening any time soon.

“Hindi muna siguro. Open ako sa idea pero kailangan pa naming magtrabaho pareho and baka too young pa ngayon [magpakasal],” she said in a 2019 interview with ABS-CBN’s “Star Patrol” segment.

MARCH 2019: ENGAGED OR BROKEN UP?

Two months later, breakup rumors surfaced.

This turn of events makes a great case study into why showbiz couples hide their romantic affiliations. The thing is: people love to ruin a good thing.

As it went, only a year had passed since they admitted to the real score between them, and already the public was being fed with breakup stories.

During a promotional appearance in March that year, Kath cleared the air: “Sobrang saya namin ni DJ ngayon. Hindi porke’t hindi kami nagpo-post na magkasama kami, hindi ibig sabihin hindi kami okay. Kasi siguro, parang privacy na lang namin yun.”

APRIL 2019: KATHRYN SURPRISES DANIEL ON HIS 24TH BIRTHDAY

After months of filming the movie Hello, Love, Goodbye with Alden Richards—a movie that still stands as the highest grossing local movie of all time—Kathryn showed up at Daniel’s 24th birthday celebration.

The two had been apart because Kathryn was in Hong Kong for the filming of the movie.

A surprised DJ blurted out, “Oh my god, Tangi,” a pet name, among several, that the phenomenal stars have for each other.

Tangi is a Filipino word meaning “only one.” An Instagram video showed a giddy Kathryn running toward Daniel. The pair wrapped each other in a tight hug in front of DJ’s guests.

MAY 2019: MOROCCAN TRIP MARKS 7TH REEL ANNIVERSARY

A surprise awaited netizens as KathNiel openly shared their dreamy 2019 May Moroccan holiday, one of the rare times the couple shared their private moments.

When two finally did, newsfeeds became awash with curated photos from the getaway: pink and lavender skies and a sea of sand for days and days.

Picture-perfect Kath and Daniel became the subject of everyday snaps that could have passed for slides of a prenuptial photoshoot!

Among the Morrocan spots on their list: the Sahara Desert, Volubilis, Chefchaouen.

Kathryn’s saccharine caption for Daniel read: “Thank you for being my dream guy and my reality guy at the same time. Falling and staying in love with you is the best decision I’ve ever made. *heart emoji*”

AUGUST 2019: THE MAN BEHIND THE STAR

Box Office Royalty, Daniel and Kathryn had no problem letting the other shine, even if it meant giving way to other leading partners.

This is precisely what Daniel displayed when, in August 2019, Kathryn and Alden Richards became the stars of the Philippines’ highest-grossing film of all time: Hello, Love, Goodbye.

It made over PHP880 million in total gross sales.

The generous and proud boyfriend said: “Ang tagumpay niya ay tagumpay ko rin.“He sounded happy to see her soaring to new heights even if this was shared, not with him, but with another star.

Certainly, no matter what he might have felt privately, he proved he could let Kathryn fly. He could be the wind beneath her wings.

The fans were open and loud about not being good with all this. They wanted the highest-grossing film to be a KathNiel film!

But, Daniel said he was good with it.

OCTOBER 2019: THE WARMTH OF KATHNIEL’S LOVE IN ICELAND

A much-deserved break after the success of Hello, Love, Goodbye came on a vacation to Iceland.

The real-life partners reunited for the cold holiday in October 2019. Freezing temperatures and ice-cold waterfalls were no match anyway to the young couple who kept warm—as cheezy as this may sound—in their love for each other, and at a time, too, when they had the world at their feet.

OCTOBER 2019: IN BUSINESS AND IN WEALTH

It was a logical next step: getting into joint investments for a future together.

That’s what it looked like in October 2019, when Kathryn and Daniel opened Barbero Blues, their first business venture together.

DJ was enthusiastic about the partnership, saying he really appreciated Kathryn’s openness to his business ideas.

For him, owning a business together meant going with the relationship to the next level.

“Masaya. Sinasabi ko masaya dahil, you know, hindi lang kami nandoon lang sa mundo ng showbiz. Kundi meron na rin kami ganito sa labas. Ang ganda kasi growth din siya… Ang ganda na siya ang kasama ko pa sa ganitong venture. Nag-go-grow kami as individuals and as partners.”

At the same time, Kath maintained her separate KathNails nail salon, launched in 2017, as well as other business investments.

APRIL 2020: DREAM WEDDING PLANS LAID BARE

Investments secured, the power couple opened up about their dream wedding.

Beach aficionados both, Kathryn and Daniel saw themselves in an intimate ceremony by the oceanshore surrounded by people closest to them.

“Over the years kasi, parating yung common na lugar na nagpapasaya sa amin, yung dagat. Pareho kami na gusto yung wedding sa beach, kasama yung mga tao na tumulong kung paano maging kami ngayon,” Kath said in April 2020.

Back then, KathNiel gave themselves four to five more years before settling down.

Eight months later, the real-life couple would appear in a Ben&Ben music video of the song “Hanggang Sa Susunod Na Habang Buhay.”

Set in a seaside home, the song talked of love beyond a lifetime, although the video (curiously written by disgraced spoken word artist Juan Miguel Severo) was a heartbreaking look at what young partners go through when they let fears and seeds of doubt take over faith in each other.

If you watch the video and read the song’s subtitles, there is one line that mentions “The House of Us,” a translation of the song’s lyrics “Tahanang pinagpaguran, sa’n na napunta?”

All this was happening as the two wrapped up their quarantine-themed project, The House Arrest of Us.

Photo: screen grab from The House Arrest of Us. KathNiel in 2020

A play on the title of their earlier movie, The Hows of Us, the 13-episode online family series featured warring families locked in because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

It was also during the Covid-19 lockdown when KathNiel’s home network, the once giant and seemingly untouchable ABS-CBN, fell to its knees as it was denied franchise renewal.

This move—by a committee in the republic’s Lower House dominated by President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies—resulted in mass retrenchment, shows going off the air, entire departments wiped out, and entire careers upended.

It was a politically motivated move that forever changed, and continues to change, the country’s communications landscape. To this day, it is seen by media practitioners as a direct assault on press freedom.

In all this, KathNiel was untouched. For one, Channel 2 stars are more contractual artists than regularly paid employees. For another, the star couple was too big and too valuable to the network.

Imagine getting a landmark show at the height of the pandemic from the streaming giant Netflix. If that does not tell you and the world that you are on your network’s top tier, we do not know what will.

But Kathryn and Daniel had their loyalties.

On July 10, 2020, Kath joined the rally in front of the Batasang Pambansa, the house of lawmakers.

Two nights later, on July 12, she and DJ were present at the noise barrage at the ABS-CBN Compound.

In the hours before the Duterte-allied lawmakers made the decision to kill the network by denying it its franchise, Kathryn had joined the network’s employees and supporters to decry the move of Congress.

SEPTEMBER 2021: THE WORLD CELEBRATES KATHNIEL’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY AS A LOVE TEAM!

The rest of the world was remembering the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, as it should.

But over here, KathNiel fanatics, as they should, were declaring the planet was healing: Kathryn and Daniel were celebrating a decade of loveteam bliss!

In a 1.5-hour-long vlog, Kath and DJ shared the milestones they hit, giving big thanks to the fans who helped make these possible.

Kathryn: “Today is the day. Ten years na tayong magkakasama. Grabe, tumanda tayo nang magkakasama and nandiyan pa rin kayo.”

And if in 2020 Kathryn touched on what their dream wedding could be like, in 2021 the actress-businesswoman-endorser doubled down on having the beach for its setting.

In a Star Cinema-released video, KathNiel had a “Boyfriend Tag Quiz.” In it, Daniel correctly identified his girlfriend’s celebrity crush (Ryan Gosling), her favorite K-drama (Crash Landing On You), and her dream wedding (a beach wedding).

JANUARY 2022: DANIEL QUASHES CHEATING RUMORS ANEW

The opening of 2022 saw Daniel embroiled in an alleged “cheating scandal” with I Love Lizzy actress Barbie Imperial.

In a video uploaded by vlogger and stand-up comedian Chad Kinis, Barbie was seen hanging out with DJ’s mom Karla Estrada and his sister Magui Ford.

DJ swiftly ended the rumors via his Instagram stories.

People took his post to be a reaction to news of him cheating, all of which he dismissed as “nonsense and irrelevant.”

Before this, though, Daniel had been caught crushing on Jasmine Curtis-Smith.

In 2014, Daniel had to admit that one of his friends had leaked an audio recording of him talking about Sam Concepcion, then the boyfriend of Jasmine Curtis-Smith, DJ’s costar in the movie Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo.

Initially, Daniel slammed his critics, telling them: “Tuloy niyo lang yan, galingan niyo.”

To those still following the timeline, this is two years into KathNiel’s real-life relationship.

MAY 2022: PERHAPS IT WAS 2 GOOD 2 BE TRUE?

Four months after denying Barbie Imperial as a third party in their relationship, Kath and DJ headlined a comeback serye titled 2 Good 2 Be True.

This was in celebration of their 10th-year, real-life anniversary.

KathNiel fans of all ages around the world reveled in this on-demand series made available on streaming giant app Netflix.

The couple then jetted off to Chiang Mai in Thailand to celebrate their decade-long romance.

Once again, Kath praised DJ online: “You know how much this trip means to me and how much I looove elephants, so without a question, you agreed to do this again with me right away. All you said to me was ‘Kahit san mo gusto love, susunod ako after ng trabaho ko..'”

MAY 2023: KATHRYN LADY-IN-WAITING AS SHE CATCHES BRIDAL BOUQUET

Kath and Deej were guests at director Cathy Garcia’s May 2023 wedding.

Daniel grinned when his woman Kathryn caught Direk Cathy’s bridal bouquet while he landed with the groom’s garter—which means, as wedding lore goes, they could be next to get married.

Obviously, this sent tingles down the spine of KathNiel fans, who in their heart of hearts really pray for this pairing to go down a real-life aisle.

2023: KATHNIEL GOING SOLO

The beginning of 2023 saw Kath and Deej going their separate ways professionally. Kath told the press that her boyfriend would be doing a project with director Dan Villegas, while Kathryn would focus on her film A Very Good Girl.

SEPT 2023: DANIEL ONCE AGAIN SUPPORTS KATHRYN BEHIND THE SCENES

September, perhaps the busiest season in the industry, saw Kathryn top-bill AVGG—A Very Good Girl—with the internationally praised actress Dolly De Leon.

AVGG went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of 2023.

It was a career-defining movie for Kathryn, whose showbiz existence began at age six and whose TV and movie credits always had her paired up with another actress or another actor who was, like her, a commercial success.

But AVGG saw her acting with Dolly, an actress with no commercial success in the Philippines, but whose performance in A Triangle of Sadness elevated the Filipino thespians’ place on the international scene.

While DJ couldn’t attend the AVGG premiere because he was in Spain for work, he posted the movie’s official trailer on his Instagram feed.

This was a major move, of course. In social media, putting someone on your Feed, and not just on the 24-hour-cycle Stories, is major.

It makes things almost permanent. Until the celebrity decides to archive it, that is.

SEPTEMBER 2023: KATHRYN AND DANIEL’S FIRST SOLO WALK AT THE ABS-CBN BALL RED CARPET

With that in mind, it was not surprising to see Kathryn and Daniel walk separately on the ABS-CBN Ball red carpet.

That was for the official photo-taking, but the two still partied with their peers, together.

Kathryn showed up in a revealing number that, while at the top looked like a turtleneck long-sleeved gown, was from the bust down an abb-baring cutout piece by Mark Baumgarner that left only little to the imagination.

Still, the sultry looked celestial on Kathryn, who sported a short, blunt bob and wavy fringe, and wore sky-high heels.

Meanwhile, DJ was in his usual rocker-Elvis style, choosing a distressed leather jacket paired with tailored pieces.

NOVEMBER 2023: BREAKUP RUMORS LEFT AND RIGHT

It was not a Sweet November for KathNiel as the two were now barely spotted together.

Breakup rumors once again surfaced, with a third party again allegedly entering the narrative.

Deej countered this by flaunting Kathryn’s Preview magazine cover—her most daring yet!—on his Instagram.

But as it turned out, the Instagram exposure came up to nothing.

NOVEMBER 30, 2023: BACK-TO-BACK STATEMENTS

On November 30, 2023, at 6:16 in the evening, Kathryn ended weeks of crazy chatter and confirmed that she and Daniel have broken up.

“Chapter closed. I hope this finally helps all of us move forward. I won’t be entertaining questions regarding this anymore. Thank you for understanding,” was her caption on her post.

Then she ended with: “Deej, you gave me 11 beautiful years and the kind of love that I will forever cherish. I will always be grateful for you.”

Here is Kathryn’s full statement:

“I’ve been in showbiz for almost 21 years now, 12 years as the one-half of Kathniel, and 11 years as someone who loved Deej even behind the camera. I didn’t grow up in this industry constantly being controlled and dictated on. I was lucky to have had the best guidance and support system when I started my career and I’ve continuously worked hard to earn people’s trust. But since I became an adult, I took it upon myself to take charge of my own life—the projects I work on, the way I dress, the people I surround myself with. I’ve always tried to be my own person. I was encouraged to think for myself and decide for myself. Even when it comes to love.

“Especially when it comes to love.

“I promised to never lose myself in this industry, so I’ve always been as authentic to you as I can be. I know what many of you are thinking right now. I’m well aware of the rumors and speculations going around, and as hard as it is to put everything into words, I want you to hear it straight from me: It’s true that Deej and I have decided to part ways.

“What Deej and I had was real. It was never for show. We were together not because of the cameras, not because of the fans, not because of the money that comes with a successful love team. We were genuinely in love. We grew up together, and saw many of those dreams become a reality—still together. That’s almost half of my life that I would never regret and would never trade for anything in the world. These are 11 years that brought me joy, adventure, and the feeling of being home. Years that taught me the real meaning of unconditional love and friendship. He knew me more than anyone else. He was my first boyfriend. He was my comfort zone. He was my person. I will always have love for him.

“Like any other relationship, we tried our best to make it work. We’ve been drifting apart for a while now, and we ultimately had to accept that we can’t go back to where we used to be. It just won’t be fair to pretend that everything is still the same.

“These past few months have been tough, but thank you for giving us the time we need to process the pain and finally face the elephant in the room. Our love story began with respect and ended with respect.

“Kathniels, we know you are hurting, and trust me, this also hurts us both more than you can imagine. The last thing we want is for this family to break apart with everyone taking sides—please don’t. Deej and I will continue to support each other as we try to heal and move forward from this. We will continue to love you and make you proud, but we hope you understand that this is something we really need. We hope you can join us in this healing process and not let those precious memories go to waste. Kaya natin to.

“Deej, you gave me 11 beautiful years and the kind of love that I will forever cherish. I will always be grateful for you.”

Twenty-three minutes later, at 6:39 in the evening, Daniel himself uploaded a statement on Instagram, captioning his post “Ikaw at ako.”

The actor shared two photos, one of him and Kathryn wearing pajamas and playing in the snow and the other a simple picture of Kathryn and her fur babies.

Here is Daniel’s full statement:

“11 years.
K [sunflower emoji] D
Pagibig.

“Sa mundo, buhay at sa limitadong oras na tayo ay nandito, isang malaking biyaya ang pagmamahal. Ang mahalin ka. At mahalin mo.

“Ang mga alaala natin ay laging kong baon sa aking puso at magiging liwanag sa mga madidilim kong araw.

“Thank you for dancing with me during my highs and thank you for singing with me during my lows.

“Our lives may drift away, but our love will still ride that tide.

“Kathniels, maraming salamat sa pagmamahal ninyo. Maraming salamat sa napakagandang pinagsamahan natin. Hinding hindi namin ipagpapalit at hindi makukumpara kahit anong pang gawin nila. Hinding hindi nila pwedeng sirain yun. This is beyond show business. Pamilya kayo at mga kaibigan. Magiging mahirap pero kailangan natin yakapin ang kinabukasan.

“I pray for us to grow, and heal.

“Bal, ang pagmamahal ko sayo ay walang hanggan at walang katapusan.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR KATHRYN BERNARDO AND DANIEL PADILLA?

As fans wait, we ourselves wonder what all this means for an industry that, for good or ill, turns childhood stars into adult pairings—maybe, too soon.

There was love; there is love. Which is why the country seems to be taken and invested in what happens next. Everywhere showbiz insiders go, they are asked, with some sadness: What really happened?

But, it ended.

We like to think that our young stars need the break. So, let them go. Let them enjoy their youth. Let them find themselves.