Officially dating, Jericho Rosales and Janine Gutierrez share why they click

Though initially playful and coy, Jericho Rosales proudly admitted that he’s now dating his “Lavender Fields” co-star Janine Gutierrez.

After being pressed by a media colleague to come clean about their real status after his recent museum and mall sightings with Janine, he confirmed, “We’re getting to know each other, we’re dating.”

The admission came while some broadsheet editors chatted with Jericho during an intimate press junket organized by Dreamscape Entertainment for its upcoming action-drama show, where incidentally Jericho and Janine play Tyrone de Vera and Iris Buenavidez, a couple already clashing and facing marital troubles. Their complicated relationship gets entangled with the character of Jodi Sta. Maria, a.k.a. Lavender Fields.

Off set, they obviously are enjoying each other’s company — so much so that they’re not afraid of being spotted and seen in public. A visibly happy Jericho further shared, “I’m in a really, really good moment in my life. My friends know, my family knows everything… And it’s time for me to really go with the flow, it’s been light and good, it’s been an amazing feeling.

“I wish that everyone can experience this cooperation that I’m receiving from God, the Universe and everything, with work, with personal life, with my dreams, with my barber (laughs).”

From Jericho’s answers, it’s clear that they first bonded over their shared passion for acting. It appeared that everything started just before they began shooting for the ABS-CBN series.

The actor said, “I’ve known her for a period of time, she’s a very sweet person. Everybody on the set loves her. She’s a sweet, sweet, sweet person, loving, family-oriented, she loves her work.

“So being Iris is just a monumental shift for her, and she knew it. And I was like, hey, you wanna discuss work? And so we had a meeting with (acting coach) Ana Feleo, and we discussed the character outside of work. We talked lengthily about our roles, we had a four-hour meeting with Ana just to discuss Iris and Tyrone and their relationship, what they want and where they want to take it.

“And Janine was like, aha, I get it now. Something clicked. Because that’s not her and that’s hard, so how do you do that? So she had to go through her file (and look) at who that person actually is… Parang for us, it’s problem solved. It’s just great working with her.”

In a separate solo interview after Jericho, Janine admitted that they just clicked because they are similar in many ways, including how they approach their characters.

“Masaya kasi medyo nerdy din siya, like about the backstory of the character, the workshops, na ako din. I always get nervous before a role and before a character so ako basa ng basa and siya ma-discuss din siya about like, oh, how can we approach this? I appreciated that. ‘Pag ginagawa namin yung eksena, align kami and natutulungan niya talaga ako,” she said.

Besides the same work ethic, Janine revealed that despite their 10-year age gap, “Our personalities are kind of the same, we’re both kind of chill, we like the beach… click kami more than expected.”

But what was truly unexpected for Janine was for Jericho not to shy away from questions about the nature of his relationship with Janine. For him to skip the denials, as is the usual case for celebrities who are dating, is a refreshing change for the press and for Janine as well.

“It’s sweet and refreshing,” Janine honestly said. “One of the things, I guess, I like about him is he’s so chill and down-to-earth and not so, parang in his head? He’s so friendly with people, he’s so outgoing.”

“I mean masaya pala. Na parang chill lang,” she said.

Now that it’s out there in the open, does Janine now feel relief or pressure?

“It’s funny because I actually just feel light,” she told The STAR. “Kasi it’s so unexpected eh. I guess, it’s nice that it’s not heavy. Parang cool din naman pala to share these things.”