Nikki Gil: Single and loving it

MANILA, Philippines – Despite recently ending a relationship, Nikki Gil considers 2013 as a very colorful year.

This year, her almost five-year relationship Billy Crawford ended, which she revealed in "Cosmopolitan" magazine December 2013 is because Billy cheated on her.

“There were always a lot of warnings, but I chose to ignore them—I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that it could be done to me," Philippine Entertainment Portal quoted. "I’d ask him, ‘Why were you [at this place]?’ Then I’d back off and say, ‘Never mind, I was just asking. You just brush it under the rug, until one day, it all blows up in your face."

After the breakup, Nikki took a short vacation abroad to reflect on everything that happened and give herself a time to grieve and as well to start healing. So when she went back to work, the Kapamilya actress has never been more ready to move forward and start her life all over again.

Aiming to focus on herself, Nikki held on to her faith, to her family and close friends where she draws her strength.

“I believe in good karma,” she said when asked how she coped with the pain she’d been through. “I believe in sowing and reaping, I believe in getting what you deserve, and I believe that all of these adversities are there to make the story of your life more colorful, and for the journey to be more exciting and more meaningful I guess.

“So kung anuman ang dumating sa buhay ko na pagsubok, I tackle it head-on because I know it will only make me a better person. And because of that adversity, we will be able to enjoy a much better victory,” she added.

Though this “adversity” brought her pain, Nikki saw the brighter side of negative things happening in a person’s life.

“I’ve learned to be very accepting of the circumstances of the things that are happening to me in terms of my career and my personal life,” she said with a smile.

“I come to learn that it’s all part of a big plan and you just have to ride it, you just have to ride away and trust that as a good plan and there’s a purpose for these things to happen,” Nikki explained.

The singer-actress said she already forgiven whoever has hurt her since forgiveness is “the only way na makapag-move on tayo.” Yet forgiving the person, for her, doesn’t mean that they can be friends again right away.

Meanwhile, Nikki believes that amidst all the she’d gone through, this opened a door for better opportunities.

“I’ve never been this busy,” she comments. “Ito ang kapalit na bigay ng Panginoon.”

One proof to this is her current project “Maria Mercedes,” where she play the role of Misty, which is one of the most hated characters of the show. But that response means a positive feedback for Nikki because it means she’s doing a good job.

But in reality, the “Maria Mercedes” antagonist is very different from her character Misty.

“Actually, medyo nahihirapan ako kay Misty,” she admits. “Kasi sobrang magkaiba kami ng views on how we will deal with what she’s dealing with right now. Like si Misty hinaharap niya rejection from Luis. Ako kasi kapag nakatanggap ako ng rejection, ayaw mo wag mo. Hindi ko ipipilit. E, may pagkadesperada itong si Misty, e, ako hindi ganun.”

So where does she draw inspiration for portraying the role?

“Siguro doon din sa mga taong naiinis ako, what they are doing na naiinis ako, gagawin ko din,” she replied with a laugh.