Billy Crawford finally broke his silence and admitted he is indeed courting Coleen Garcia.
"Yes,
nililigawan ko. She is not my girlfriend yet and I would love for her
to be," he said in an interview with "Buzz ng Bayan" on Sunday, January
12.Billy denied Coleen is the cause of his breakup with Nikki Gil, whom he doesn't want to put on the spot by revealing the reason why they split up.
Billy and Coleen have been romantically linked for months, after photos of them together spread online.The photos showed both of them in Bacolod, while other pictures captured the two watching an NBA game in New York last December.
"It was an event (in Bacolod) where most of the Showtime family was there. That picture was taken out of context. Coleen was doing that with Vice (Ganda), she was hugging everyone. I was also hugging everyone and everyone was having a good time. People just put words into pictures. Coleen and I are not boyfriend-girlfriend. We are not a couple yet," he said.
Billy went to New York to meet family and friends, while Coleen was there to be with a friend. They got to meet fellow "It's Showtime" host Ryan Bang in the US.
NBA game
"Yes, I did ask Coleen to watch with me. I bought tickets beforehand and said I would like to go there in NY, to spend time with you, to watch the game and have dinner," Billy said.
Billy admits he is hurt over people’s criticisms about him and Coleen.
"I know she really wanted to pull away at one point and really just didn't want to have anything to do with me because of the speculations. Pero ako bilang lalaki, I'll pursue her, paninindigan ko. I want to get to know her."
He has a touching message for Coleen.
"I just really want to say thank you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be myself, to be real, to try to get to know me despite what's going on. You mean a lot to me. You motivate me to go to work every day and I just enjoy who I am now. And I just want to pursue trying to get to know you better. I will be here for you, as a friend or maybe even more. Thank you."
By Karen Valeza | Yahoo Southeast Asia Newsroom