(From left) Leren Bautista, Ricci Rivero. Images: Instagram/@lerenmaebautista, Instagram/@ricciiirivero
Beauty queen-turned-politician Leren Mae Bautista has denied any romantic involvement with basketball player Ricci Rivero, following the latter’s controversial split with actress Andrea Brillantes.
Bautista was accused of being Rivero’s other woman after the latter’s photo of himself was posted on his now-deleted Instagram Story last weekend, which was taken by the former. Prior to the cheating allegations, they were spotted at a community event last May 25, where they were giving away food packs.
Image: Instagram/@lerenmaebautista via @ricciiirivero
Days after Rivero confirmed his split from Brillantes, the Los Baños councilor addressed her supposed romance with the cager on her official Facebook page on Monday, June 12, saying those claims are “entirely false and have no basis in reality.”
“We would like to address the disinformation that has been circulating across social media platforms regarding Councilor Leren and her alleged romantic involvement with basketball player Ricci Rivero. We want to make it clear that these claims are entirely false and have no basis in reality,” the statement read.
“Councilor Leren Mae Bautista has dedicated herself to serving the community of Los Baños with utmost sincerity and integrity. Her commitment to public service has been shaped by the support and trust of the people she represents,” the post further added.
Bautista’s camp then clarified that her previous sighting with Rivero was merely a “recent outreach activity” meant to serve the former beauty queen’s constituents in Los Baños, as it pointed out that it’s not an indication of a romantic relationship.”
“The recent outreach activity in which Councilor Leren participated with Ricci Rivero is not an indication of a romantic relationship between them. The event was organized as part of Councilor Leren’s ongoing efforts to serve the people and contribute to the welfare of her community,” the post said.
The beauty queen-turned-politician also said that a certain video featuring the basketball player’s “belated celebration” with Bautista has since been taken down due to “potential misinterpretation.”
“The video that went viral, depicting Ricci’s belated celebration with his friends, whose numerous other invited individuals joined, was taken down due to concerns about potential misinterpretation by viewers,” it said. “We encourage everyone to refrain from creating malicious and insinuating comments on social media. Likewise, we call on everyone to understand the importance of fact-checking information shared across various internet platforms.”
‘Happy Independence Day to me’
While Brillantes remains mum on her split with Rivero, the actress made an apparent jab to her ex-boyfriend during a June 12 episode of the noontime show “It’s Showtime,” which happened to fall on the country’s independence day.
The actress received the greeting “Happy Independence Day” from show mainstay Vice Ganda, after the former wrapped up her opening performance.
“I know! Happy Independence day to me and to all of us. Ako lang ‘to,” she said in response, which made Vice Ganda laugh in response.
Rivero confirmed his separation from the “Drag You and Me” star in a lengthy tweet last June 9, where he asked his followers to “respect [their] decision” to keep their split private.
“I own up to the mistake of not making my relationship status public because I felt there’s no need to add up to what we’re going through. Please respect our decision to keep it to ourselves so that we can preserve what’s left of our friendship,” his tweet said.
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