‘I need to keep my kids away’: LJ Reyes reveals reasons behind split with Paolo Contis
MANILA, Philippines — Kapuso actress LJ Reyes broke her silence on the reasons behind her breakup with Paolo Contis.

In an interview with Boy Abunda on his YouTube channel, LJ turned emotional, saying that she turned to God during these difficult times.

“It was so difficult. It was so painful. Maybe my faith in God is not strong, I don’t know where I’ll go. If my love for my children is not strong enough for them to be my motivation to stand up and wake up every day,” LJ said.

LJ is currently in New York, together with her kids Aki and Summer. She said she decided to stay out of the country to protect her children.

That’s why I decided to speak up is because ‘when your children are the ones doing the wrong thing, I think you need to say that this is all. Somehow, I need to keep the children away because they need to be protected. We need to have a healthy and safe environment. That’s for the children, not just for me. I can hear what I hear there. ‘But when they are the children, I need to keep them away,” she said.

The actress chose not to go into details on what she meant by protecting her kids.

“Even though I’m here, I will never go into particular details because I don’t want anyone to say it’s not good. I just want my children to not be used. I just want the public to understand why I left and stop making up different stories that are ‘mutual,’ like, ‘What’s happening is okay’,” she said.

LJ narrated that the past several months for her were hard, but she’s trying to be strong for her kids.

“It’s been so hard. The past several months. But I tried not to let my children feel it, not to let the public feel it. I never talked… because I wanted to talk about what we were going through as a family or what I was going through in my private life, I just wanted to talk to the Lord and who was involved,” she said.

“But it’s been really difficult. The past several months… the past two months, it’s like revelation after revelation. And at night, all I can do is sleep is praise and worship songs. Sometimes I have nightmares because I don’t know how things happened. I can’t separate reality, the new revelations I’ve learned, information from people around me,” she added.

Is the breakup mutual?
LJ said that her breakup with Paolo was not mutual as Paolo turned into a person she didn’t know.

“No, it’s not mutual. I believe that when a decision is mutual, you both agree that the relationship is no longer working. No, it’s not. I can feel it very well. I’ve been feeling that he’s been separated from us for a long time. I can feel it very well,” she said.

“But honestly, I’m the one who said that he’s in a different world, and I feel like he’s just waiting for me to come back,” she added.

LJ admitted that she was the one who broke up with Paolo but she felt that the actor was just waiting for her to quit.

“It got to the point where we broke up. But after a few days, I realized that this couldn’t be, there were children. I just let go of my pride even though I was the one who was hurt. I’ll bear it for the children. Because I thought, maybe they need a complete family,” LJ said.

“I asked him if he wants to take us back. But he doesn’t,” she added.

When asked if she talked to Paolo about what’s happening in the relationship, LJ said: “Yes, po. A lot of times.”

“Are we okay? You seem different. I don’t feel the way you used to or the way you treated us anymore.”

Paolo replied: “You just thought that. It’s still the same.”

“I just dismissed the conversation. The Paolo I don’t know, when I talk to him the past months, it just seems to slip through. I also told him, ‘I feel so alone already. I don’t understand what’s going on.’ ‘That’s how I feel,” she said.

Is Paolo physically hurting her and the kids?
LJ denied rumors that Paolo is hitting her and the kids, attesting that the actor is not like that.

“Physically, no. I don’t want them to think that Pao is like that. Physically, no. Because, ‘when we love, we trust, right? ‘I gave them my full trust. ‘I never thought that I and the kids would be hurt like that. You just really wanted to get them out of the situation. If I could change everything, I would get them out of that situation,” she said.

“Really, we left because I felt, like, I really needed — me, myself and my kids — to get out of the situation physically, so that we could somehow help each other emotionally and mentally to recover and rebuild as a small family. It just hurts to think that you allowed things to happen. Because you don’t know where you’re going. It’s hard to explain if I don’t go into details, but I don’t want to do that. I’m still protecting the kids,” she added.

Third party?
LJ didn’t deny nor confirm that one of the reasons behind their breakup was a third party. She just said that lots of her friends are telling her that there are “sightings” of Paolo.

“I think there are many who can answer that. Even if I don’t answer. There are people who would message me about events, sightings… But I would ask him. Of course, there is always confirmation,” she said.

Paolo answered her with “During the pandemic, how will he be identified, wearing a mask, wearing a shield.”

“That’s right. There are reasons like that. He will say, ‘You know where I am.’ It came to a point, a friend of a friend — not just a friend, a close friend… Besides, if you’re a woman, you really know. Or anyone who loves someone — not just a woman, of any gender — when you love someone, you know. When you know someone, you know,” she added.

LJ cuts the line
The actress admitted that she doesn’t want to talk to Paolo anymore.

“I don’t want to talk to him. I cut the line. I didn’t talk to him anymore. I’m afraid to talk to him. Because I feel like what he’s telling me is true. But I’ve learned a lot that’s not true. I’m afraid — I’m sorry if I’m gonna use this word — I’m afraid that the facts I know now will be manipulated,” she said.

“The revelations and information that have come to me in the past two to three months are hard to digest. Yes, I know in my heart… I can’t be wrong. I’m absolutely sure that it’s true. I’ve talked to a lot of people who have shown me the truth about how he is when I’m not around. That’s why it’s hard for me, because I’ve seen this, and he has a different personality, or says different things when I’m not around. I have proof of those other things,” she added.

The actress said it came to a point where she didn’t know Paolo anymore.

“When I was talking to him, you know when someone is telling you the truth or not. It got to the point where it was, ‘Who do I know?’ I don’t know if people will understand, but, ‘Who is this person I see now?’ And it was hard because he became close to my family, not just my children. I could see that they were hurting for me and for them too,” she said.

God’s wisdom
LJ said she turned to God for wisdom to absorb all the pain in her. She admitted that she was so stressed the whole time that even her eyebrows were falling off.

“The past several months have been really tough. Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Is this still right for my children?’ But I asked the Lord for wisdom, ‘Am I doing the right thing?’ I was holding it together. My eyebrows are bald. Because my siblings don’t know,” she said.

“I suddenly had a breakdown once because it was so painful. It was so hard. But I held on for my children. If there were no children involved, it’s okay, I won’t force myself. It’s just me, if you don’t want it, I hope the children are okay,” she added.

The actress admitted that she wanted a complete family but cannot stand Paolo anymore.

“As much as I really want a complete family, what happened, I can’t stand him being close to my children. What happened was so painful. It was so hard. I just can’t say on air what it was like,” she said.

“But my mother’s heart can’t handle bringing him back. I feel like I’m floating. I feel like I’m on autopilot. I can’t stop. I can’t shut up. “I’m not the most religious person. But in the midst of this incident, that’s all I can hold on to. I am in God’s loving hands.”