BEAUTY queen Priscilla Meirelles has broken her silence on her status with screen veteran John Estrada, weeks after her cryptic posts stirred speculation about their marriage.
Meirelles, 39, and Estrada, 49, have been married for 12 years. They have an 11-year-old daughter together.
In late March, Meirelles had social media abuzz with a series of Instagram Stories updates alluding to a third party in a relationship.
At one point, she asked her followers, “What to call a female that entertains a married man?” and went on to compile the answers.
Two weeks later, both Meirelles and Estrada shared snaps of their family vacation in Cebu, with the “Batang Quiapo” cast member declaring his love for his wife, calling her his “one and only.”
On Monday, April 17, Meirelles finally spoke at length about her marriage with Estrada, confirming to ABS-CBN News’ Mario Dumaual that they had indeed been going through a “rough patch.”
“We’re very blessed to be able to enjoy that trip,” she said of her family’s Cebu getaway. “Actually, it was scheduled three months ago. There is no reason to not push through with that.”
“It was such a blessing. It was an amazing time together,” she added, relating that her daughter was able to swim with the famed whale sharks of Oslob.
Meirelles spoke with ABS-CBN News on the sidelines of the April 17 preliminary event of the Miss Earth Philippines pageant, where she was one of the judges.
When asked whether “all is well” between her and Estrada, she answered: “Actually, we never really had any major, let’s say… I cannot say that it wasn’t well.
“Every marriage goes through very rough patches. We were going through a rough time, actually for a while already,” she said.
Meirelles explained that she and Estrada, who marked their 12th wedding anniversary in February, have had discussions about how they see their marriage a decade into the future, admitting they had some differences.
Mereilles compared the current situation of her marriage to a house with a broken light, emphasizing that she and Estrada intend to stay together.
“If it comes to a point where you have a house and one of the lights is broken, do you change the house or do you fix the light? We try to fix the light first. This is basically what’s happening.
“We are talking. There is no major happening right now. I think the most important part is that we respect each other and we respect each other’s space. All is good,” she said.
Without detailing the “rough patch” in their relationship, Meirelles said she believes that they both learned from the difficult chapter.
A Born Again Christian, Meirelles shared that she and Estrada have been drawing strength from their faith to overcome the recent challenge in their marriage. (ABS-CBN News)
