James on Nadine: ‘She’s always gonna be very special to me’
Whoever said that former lovers can’t be friends should take a closer look at how James Reid and Nadine Lustre have kept up with each other, both personally as well as professionally.
James and Nadine, known as JaDine, announced their decision to call it quits in January of last year yet the two are able to stay close, cherishing a friendship in place of their romantic connection.
“We’re okay. We’re still very good friends. We still work together and she’s always gonna be very special to me,” replied James to the question of one fan about his relationship with Nadine during our live conversation on the Batalk Channel.
“Right now, she’s doing her own thing and I’m doing my own thing. We’re focused on our careers. We try to help her with the music side of things and it’s been great to see her actually being able to take control of her creative direction in a lot of her music, in a lot of her projects.”
They see each other once a week since Nadine is working with James’ indie music label Careless.
James paused for a moment before answering another fan’s question on whether he is ready to see Nadine with a new guy. He reasoned that the decision does not have to come from him.
“I don’t think anyone in that situation is excited to see their ex with someone else, but you know, that’s not my choice.”
But what if he has a choice?
“It can’t be my choice but if magically I had to decide whether or not she’d be with someone, of course, I wish her the best. I want her to be happy.”
He added, “I’m not her husband, neither am I her father. So, she can do whatever makes her happiest.”
James is grateful for the fans who continue to support his every endeavor. In June, James released the single Hello, his follow-up to Soda. He looks forward to working on an album before the year ends.
Below are excerpts from the interview:
Your fans are missing you so much.
“I’m missing them, too. It’s not the same, performing without all of them.”
They are expressing their excitement and love for you. And I’m reading a lot of comments (during the live virtual interview) and it can be overwhelming. How does that feel — to be so loved?
“It feels great. Does it get overwhelming? I don’t think so. Like for me, you know, I’m really grateful for all the support and the love that the fans show and it’s not just on the good days. They’re always there supporting and always waiting for the next thing even if some don’t agree with my choices in career and life, they’re still there supporting me so I’m truly grateful to have fans like that.”
I like the dynamics. You know, I can support you, I can love you but I may not agree with all the things that you do. That’s quite interesting. You make some moves — both personal and professional — and your fans let you know how they feel about them and that’s fine. Me, I’m a different fan because I like my idol to listen to me and I feel bad when they do otherwise. Pero kayo, ang relasyon mo with the fans is it’s okay even if you don’t see eye to eye on certain issues.
“Yeah, I think that’s because it’s been a long time. We’ve been through a lot and I’ve been in the industry now for 11 years so we’ve been through a lot. You know, it’s different at the beginning when not everyone was accepting of my life choices.”
In one of your interviews recently, you said you’re living your life right now. Exactly, what did you mean by that?
“I think, I’m still doing all the things that given the limitations, I’m still doing the things that I felt like I’m scared to do or so immature or too lazy to do. (The) things you don’t wanna face when it comes to, you know, just me growing up. But it’s been hard in a really good way. I think I was really dependent on a lot of things and when the pandemic hit, it got real — it just couldn’t be something that I was passionate about and then I could just show up once every while and do my thing and then disappear. I realized what I really want to do for a living takes a lot of work — you know, making music, running a music label, working with friends. I have to be professional about the things that I’m passionate about.”
When asked whether you know what’s gonna be next, you said, “I don’t know.”
“Yeah, you’re right, not knowing is not necessarily bad. For me, half of everything that I was doing, stepping away from my acting career to pursue music, start an indie label and make music that I like — all these things we’ve managed to achieve in Careless and in the other businesses I’ve done. There’s a lot of projects we haven’t done before (and then) the shot at things like Nadine’s visual album or some of the projects we’ve worked on with different brands. These were all ‘a first’ so everything that we’ve been doing, we’re still figuring it out and that’s really what makes us grow so much. We’re still pushing and staying optimistic and learning from it.”
You mentioned Nadine. How is she doing?
“She’s doing well. She has another single coming out very soon. I know that fans will love this one. It’s a great song. I don’t wanna go into it too much. I have no hand in this one but it’s a great song.”
Does it bother you every time you are asked about Nadine?
“No, it doesn’t bother me. I think they’re just curious but, you know, even when we’re together, we just like to have privacy and, I think, even if we’re not together anymore, we still want to keep that privacy. If you don’t mind, all JaDine fans.”
When is love too much?
“I don’t know, that’s a tricky question. Is it ever too much? I don’t think so. I think my dad can love me too much (laughs).”
Would you date a fan?
“I’ve been asked that question a lot. If someone came up to me and straight up would say, like, ‘Hi, I’m a huge fan.’ Well, that to me matters and that would be fun. If they didn’t say that they were… actually, I wouldn’t mind either so yeah, I would.”
I hope you’ll do a concert sometime soon.
“If they don’t bring back live audiences this year, then I’ll do a digital one.”
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