The matinee idol has only good things to say about his previous loves
Derek Ramsay has been in many high profile relationships, but while they didn’t work out, he’s always been a gentleman about them, preferring to keep his silence and to acknowledge only the good and what he’s learned with all of them. Here, he finally shares his thoughts on his previous reallife leading ladies.
Derek and Solenn
“Everything with Solenn and I clicked, it was just the wrong timing. We were both young. And ang pride ko with my dad because my dad wanted me to work for him. And I was like, “No, I’m going to find my own path. I’m going to do it my own way.” So, with Solenn, ang naisip ko, anong ipapakain ko sayo? Diba?”
Derek and Solenn were together four years and although they weren’t formally engaged it was like they were.
“A majority of it (our relationship) was long distance, actually. But we got through that. But, you know, she came back and she was a different person. And I was a different person. So we ended the relationship and we’re friends,” Derek looks back fondly.
“I guess I was trying to find my path. And that’s when I was starting show business and I needed to put food on the table. I’m not going to marry someone if wala akong ipapakain sa kanya and I’m not going to put a hand out and say ‘Mommy and Daddy give me money.’ That’s just not who I am. But we talked about marriage all the time.”
I asked Derek if Solenn was the first girl he wanted to marry and he said, “Yes, most definitely.”
Derek and Angelica
“Did we ever really, really get serious about talking about marriage? We brought it up. But we never reached that point. But yes, we loved each other,” Derek remembers.
“We were together five years. We were introduced and we’re from totally different worlds! And I guess that was what drew me to her. I was like, wow, this is something new! And this is something I’ve never experienced! And we had a lot of great memories. We traveled the world together,” Derek reminisces.
But as much as that was one of Derek’s longest relationships, a lot of hurtful things were said about him when it ended.
“With Angelica, I guess we loved each other so much that when the breakup happened, and you’re hurt or you’re angry, you should be able to control that anger. Because a lot of things that maybe you don’t mean were said, that can really hurt your partner. And the stuff that was said about me really, really hurt me. But again, I guess what I learned is you just have to be understanding that you’re two different people. And you handle things differently.
“And, you know, minahal mo siya so intindihin mo na lang. So understanding is what I really learned from that relationship.” “Angelica, taught me so much. Yeah, she’s a very strong woman. She went through a lot in her life. Being in showbiz at such a young age, being the breadwinner. I admired that about her, bata pa lang she supported na her family. So that was something that really attracted me to her.”
Derek and Cristine
“Cristine and I were such good friends. After Angelica, I stayed away for a while from women. Cristine came after. I dated Cristine because we were both coming from breakups and I don’t want to say it was a rebound (relationship). You see, I knew Cristine like the back of my hand, she would say the same for me. We decided to jump into a relationship together, I mean she has all the qualities, but we already knew too much. We knew too much of each other,” Derek says of that relationship.
Derek and Joanne
“Dalawa yung minahal ko dito. Si Joanne and her daughter,” Derek says of his longest relationship of six years.
“The pressure was just too much for me to be in a relationship with somebody in showbiz. Everyone says that every leading lady ko? No. They call me nga the ‘Universal Leading Man’ because I’ve been partnered with every leading lady out there and I’ve never had a relationship except for you know, leading lady ko si Andrea. Si Cristine, hindi naman while leading lady ko siya naging girlfriend,” Derek admits.
“But Jo and I, I guess our views on family, although I’m not saying she’s not a family person, our views on family were very different.
“With Jo, there were moments, and it’s understandable, that she wanted to still be that, I guess, young beautiful girl that enjoys life. And I guess I was at that stage in my life na I want to enter the next chapter of being a little bit more serious about life,” Derek realized.
But Derek admits wanting to marry Joanne.
“It came across my mind, most definitely. I won’t be in a six-year relationship and not think of it. I’m proud that I love her daughter so much. I didn’t take the role of the father because the father of her daughter is a great father. Talagang tutok siya. But I was, I guess, the next thing to a father because they were both living with me.”
Derek and Andrea
“Andrea and I, we met kami pa ni Jo, but it never entered my head na magiging kami ni Andrea. That came way down the road,” Derek clarifies.
“But I guess it’s just the thing about family, and that’s all I focused on—I saw with Andrea na her mom was always with her, how she treats her mom, that her parents are her priority. I’m like ‘Wow! This is amazing.’ And that’s what drew me to Andrea,” Derek admits the start of his attraction to her.
“Did it happen too fast? Probably. Looking back it probably did. We were together practically everyday shooting, taping a teleserye, but that’s what really attracted me to her—her respect for her family.”
As as fast that relationship happened, it also ended all so sudden.
“It was sudden. I don’t want to share all the details out of respect to Andrea and her family. They’re good people. That breakup was so sad and it shocked me, shocked my parents, shocked Andrea and really shocked her family. It shocked everybody around us because we weren’t pretending to be happy. We were and everything was good. Everything was smooth sailing, actually. Given we didn’t get to see each other for a while because of the whole COVID thing.” But it was a small fight, and it was nothing! I mean I don’t even call it a fight, but ended up turning into the end of the relationship. And I guess with that small little argument, that was actually, probably only the second during the entire relationship, that brought up some red flags that for me, sabi ko I can’t go through that again. And my guards went straight back up and I know myself when my guards go back up, mahirap na siya ibaba uli. Nababa mo na eh,” Derek explains.
“I thought our relationship was very mature in the sense that when you have ‘puppy love,’ like every minute, every second, every, you know, opportunity to be with each other. Then magsawa kayo sa isa’t isa, ganun. With Andrea and I, we had our own space, we message each other in the morning. She does whatever she needs to do during the day, I do whatever I need to do during the day, then workout together, and it became a routine. Like, I never understood people who are in a long distance relationship until then because it’s basically like a long distance relationship. I’ve been in a long distance relationship. So I thought, you know, it was was very mature of us. We handled the whole lockdown that way. We didn’t even try to break the law,” Derek recalls.
“She loves to take care of people. That’s, that’s who Andrea is. But there were certain things that came up that I was like, ‘Okay, we’re going to end up fighting over this in the future.’”
“I think it’s very sad for people that follow us as a couple because yeah, we all thought that this was going to be the one,” Derek says.
“But there are certain things,and that’s what I’ve learned in the relationships that I’ve had na ‘wag mong ipilit. Kapag may nakita ka na ‘wag mo ng ipilit because it will just make things harder. And I don’t want that. We’re gonna hate each other. I hate that you have a relationship, you have so many good memories that outweigh the bad ones, but once the relationship’s over, you focus on this lang. I always weigh the scale,” Derek says deciding to focus only on his good memories with Andrea.
Continue Reading: Derek’s New Relationship
