MANILA – A day after publicly admitting his romantic relationship with Nadine Lustre, James Reid opened up about how he courted his onscreen partner.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News at the Manulife event on Sunday, Reid said he and Lustre have being seeing each other for some months already before they actually became a couple.

Although he grew up in Australia, Reid said he still tried to pursue Lustre the Filipino way.

A photo posted by James Reid (@jaye.wolf) on Oct 31, 2015 at 8:43am PDT

“For me, I guess, because I am Australian, I grew up in Sydney, the way that we court girls, it’s different there. But, of course, the first person to know was her father. I asked permission from him first a while back. I tried to keep that Filipino tradition,” he said, adding that he even went to her house.

Reid also shared how he officially asked Lustre to be his girlfriend. Their relationship became official last February 11.

“Actually, gusto ko talaga siya i-surprise sa concert night itself. I was supposed to save it ‘til then. I wasn’t gonna say it until [the concert],” he said.

“And then on the 11th, we went out for dinner. I was like, ‘I bet you didn’t know I could be like this.’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, I didn’t really expect this from you.’ I said, ‘It’s different when I’m in love.’ And then she said, ‘Are you in love?’ And then I thought, you know what, right now is the right time. I told her, ‘Yes, I am.’ She knew what I was talking about,” he added.

Asked how Lustre reacted after he professed his love for her, Reid said: “She literally sat there smiling and just said, ‘Kilig ako!’”

A photo posted by James Reid (@jaye.wolf) on Oct 29, 2015 at 10:24pm PDT

Dismissing claims that their relationship is just a publicity stunt, Reid said he is relieved now that he can be more open about his feelings for Lustre.

“It’s such a relief. You have no idea how relieving it is to be able to express [my feelings for her] because for me, for the longest time, I’ve had to suppress it or hide it. Now, it’s so liberating to just be able to hold her hand in public and say I love you out loud,” he said.

Meanwhile, Reid said nothing has changed between them even though they are now in a relationship.

“Actually that’s the beautiful thing about her. She’s still my best friend. When we hang out, we are just like best friends, buddies but there’s that extra connection. Nothing changed. I just realized one day that wow, I’m in love with her,” he said.

For now, Reid said they are looking forward to their world tour where they can spend more time together.

“We have this world tour coming up next and we are so excited because we are going to be visiting Paris, we are going to be visiting Milan, Rome, London, Dubai. Also, we’ll be shooting our movie somewhere else abroad where we’ve always wanted to go. [Our travels] will be similar to Lake Tahoe but next level,” he said.

Reid said he is just overwhelmed by how their supporters welcomed his announcement about their real status.

“I didn’t really do it for the fans. I did it for my own…I just wanted to do it. I expected [that they will be happy for us]. I’m happy that they are happy. I’m happy that everyone’s happy. Yesterday was really different,” he said.