MANILA – For the first time, Nadine Lustre opened up about her relationship with her French businessman boyfriend Christophe Bariou.

Speaking with Boy Abunda, the actress shared that they met through common friends when she went to visit Siargao in July last year.

“I have friends who have been living in Siargao for a while now. In July last year, two of my friends [and I] ended up going to Siargao just for a vacation kasi nga medyo maluwag na nung time na yun so we were able to fly out,” she recalled.

Since one of her friends is working with Bariou, they asked if they could go to the secret beach spot near the latter’s private resort and that was when they first met.

“She asked him if we can go to his spot kasi there’s a secret beach there, there’s no one there most of the time. Yun yung kung saan magmi-meet yung ilog at dagat. Asked him if we could go, but we ended up just swimming in his pool. That’s pretty much it,” she said.

When prodded to share what her first impression of Bariou was, Lustre said: “My friends kasi were talking about him and they were saying na he’s really cute. When I saw him, I’m like ‘Okay fine, he’s actually kinda cute.’”

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According to the actress, Bariou is half-Filipino and half-French and he has been living in Siargao for eight years now.

On whether Bariou is comfortable about being in a relationship with a public personality, Lustre said: “He is. He’s getting used to it at least. I think he understands that it’s something that he cannot escape. It’s part of it. He’s okay with it.”

Aside from her love life, Lustre also bared her future plans when it comes to her career.

“More movies and more music, business also. I am helping my mom with some of her businesses. I am learning. I can’t really say I am a businesswoman because there’s still a lot that I have to learn.”

Lustre said it’s nice to be acting again after a while because like creating music, portraying a character also gives her a different sense of fulfillment.

“When I am acting, it’s different. It puts me in a different world. With music kasi it’s fun but those are two different things talaga. When I am performing, it’s more of telling my story kasi my songs are mostly written by me. When I am acting, it’s putting myself in character or in the shoes of another person. I put myself in a different world. It’s fun to be someone else for a couple of days.”

Lustre’s last acting project was the Yam Laranas movie “Greed” which was also headlined by Diego Loyzaga and Epy Quizon.

Two days ago, it was announced that Lustre will also star in the psychological thriller “Deleter” from Mikhail Red, the acclaimed director behind the films “Birdshot” and “Eerie.”

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With everything that’s going on in her life, Lustre confidently said she would already consider herself “rich.”

“I think I am rich because I am contented. I count my blessings. It’s really just understanding that what you have now is all that you need in life,” she stated.