Mariel, Robin Return From India Amid Wedding Rumors

CEBU, Philippines - After leaving behind a spate of speculations when they left for India, lovebirds Robin Padilla and Mariel Rodriguez returned to the country together past 12 am yesterday, reports said.

According to ABS-CBN News, Padilla and Rodriguez were seen holding hands when they arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. But the “Pilipinas Win na Win” hosts refused to make any comment on whether they have already—as rumors would have it—tied the knot in India.

“There’s a proper time to talk about this matter,” Rodriguez was quoted by ABS-CBN News as saying. She also said that the reason behind their return was to confront “bigger issues”. “We [came] home because there are bigger issues to tackle, which is Robin’s son, Ali. That’s why we’re back.”

Ali is the youngest of the 4 children—including Queenie, Kylie, and Zhen-Zhen—of Padilla. Ali is set to go back to his mother, Padilla’s ex-wife Liezl Sicangco, in Australia. Sicangco had earlier expressed in interviews her desire to reclaim Ali from Padilla’s care after his purported lack of time for their kids as of late because of Rodriguez. (Nevertheless, Sicangco, who has already remarried, denied that she was blaming Rodriguez.) Padilla, on the other hand, has already apologized to his ex-wife and their children for his shortcomings.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez reiterated that she did not resign from “Pilpinas Win na Win.” “I’m on indefinite leave,” she told ABS-CBN News, also stressing that she’s not pregnant.

To recall, she suddenly left for India last Tuesday to follow her sweetheart Padilla, who earlier took a leave from the show because of the Ramadan season, him being a Moslem.

Rodriguez had earlier said that she has no regrets of going to India, saying in a taped interview for the entertainment news program “E-Live” last Saturday that “I'm really happy. I do not regret the decision I made. Finally, I'm going to be able to do what I want. Finally, I'm going to do something for myself.”

Padilla and Rodriguez first met on the now-defunct “Wowowee” in May when the former became a guest host. Their romance has steadily progressed since then, with Padilla publicly declaring his love and asking her hand in marriage in the Aug. 7 episode of “E-Live” of which Mariel is one of the hosts.