Ricci Rivero hints at breakup with Andrea Brillantes, as cheating claims surface
Did basketball star Ricci Rivero and actress Andrea Brillantes break up already after over a year together?
For days, social media was abuzz with breakup rumors as Ricci was seen in the Instagram Story of beauty queen turned politician Leren Mae Bautista. Leren is a municipal councilor in Los Baños in Laguna.
Ricci also spent his birthday with Leren in Los Baños last May 25, distributing food packs to constituents. The following day, she posted a photo of them in action, wishing him a happy birthday and thanking him for the visit.
"We appreciate your love and generosity to give back to our people. Mabuhay ka!" Leren wrote in her post.
Andrea, meanwhile, wasn't seen together with him that day, much less posted about him.
Adding fuel to the fire was when Leren on Instagram Story shared a text image that read, "As long as you're happy who cares."
Netizens were quick to speculate that they've already called it quits while alleging Ricci of cheating on Andrea.
Ricci in a June 9 tweet addressed the rumors, saying he owns up to the "mistake" of not making his relationship status public. He didn't explicitly mention Andrea or announced their assumed breakup.
"I felt there’s no need to add up to what were going through," he said.
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 were going through. Please respect our decision to keep it to ourselves so that we can preserve whats left of our friendship. I hope let’s stop creating your own…
— Ricci Rivero (@_ricciiirivero) June 8, 2023
"Please respect our decision to keep it to ourselves so that we can preserve what's left of our friendship."
Ricci asked the public to stop creating their "own versions" of the story and "dragging other characters into these false accusations."
"I am sorry for whatever disappointments it may have caused you," he said."[F]or everyone’s peace of mind, please allow ourselves to heal and move on peacefully without hate and pain."
Gaslighter, manipulative?
Minutes after Ricci's tweet at 1:24 a.m., Andrea's best friend Awra Briguela in a series of tweets appeared to have taken a swipe at him.
"amackana gaslighter, manipulative. fcking cheater. lol," Awra tweeted at 1:30 a.m.
At 1:43 a.m., she wrote: "t--- i---- toh, kala mo talaga ang linis."
"bato bato bato sa langit ang matamaan wag?…" Awra wrote at 2:03 a.m.
"WAG AKO," she wrote at 2:08 a.m.
Andrea has yet to address the matter.
Ricci and Andrea became official on April 9 last year, when she asked for her hand in court after the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons won against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws.
They went viral last March with Andrea's “promposal” to Ricci during Blackpink's “Born Pink” concert at the Philippine Arena.