Maine Mendoza says she fell in love with Alden Richards and he knew it
Maine Mendoza confessed that she fell for her former love teammate, Alden Richards, at the height of their AlDub fame a decade ago.
During the TV personality's guesting on the Tamang Panahon podcast's Aug. 17 episode, a social media user asked whether she and Richards loved each other more than friends. They also asked whether Richards had courted Mendoza and if he had been rejected.
After a brief pause, the 30-year-old responded, "Ako, na-in love talaga ako kay Alden. Vocal naman ako."
She noted that she'd give a straight answer to anyone who asks about it.
"Na-in love ako sa kaniya, pero hindi siya nanligaw. Walang ganoon," she said.
Mendoza pointed out that Richards knew how she felt toward him.
"Kung vocal ako sa lahat ng tao, pati kay Alden mismo," she said. "Alam ni Alden 'yun, sinabi ko naman sa kaniya, rekta, pero hindi siya nanligaw. Friends lang (kami)."
When podcast co-host Paolo Ballesteros asked if she'd say yes to Richards had he courted her, Mendoza responded in the affirmative.
"Kasi in love ako sa kaniya. Na-in love ako talaga," she said. "At alam ninyong lahat 'yan, mga Dabarkads."
Co-host Allan K., meanwhile, said he saw Mendoza and Richards being a likely couple. Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola agreed, noting the former love team has a "spark."
Mendoza also recalled directly asking Richards about his feelings.
"Tinanong ko siya noon," she said, "kasi ang straightforward ko naman na tao. Tinanong ko siya, rekta, 'Sabihin mo na sa 'kin, ano bang nararamdaman mo for me?'... Ang sabi lang niya, 'Di ko pwedeng sabihin sa 'yo kasi mawawala 'yung magic.'"
"Gusto ko lang malaman. Kung ano man 'yan, tatanggapin ko naman," she added.
In any case, Mendoza and Richards stayed on good terms, ultimately being able to talk things through.
"Grabe 'yung relationship din namin ni Alden off-cam," she said. "Pero may closure naman kaming dalawa. Napag-usapan namin lahat, pero roller coaster din kaming dalawa."
Her revelation came two years after Richards admitted to falling in love with Mendoza. "Hypocrite ako kung hindi and ayokong sabihin na alam niya, pero I did confess," he said in a 2023 interview with "King of Talk" Boy Abunda.
AlDub rose to fame in 2015 in the miniseries of the noontime variety show Eat Bulaga! called Kalyeserye. Their love team became a cultural phenomenon, capturing the attention of legions of fans and topping social media trends.
It also led to the "Sa Tamang Panahon" event at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, with tens of thousands of fans in attendance. The event, which used the hashtag #AlDubEBTamangPanahon, landed a Guinness World Record for the most used hashtag in 24 hours on X (then Twitter), with 40,706,392 uses from Oct. 24 to 25, 2015.
The AlDub phenomenon ended in mid-2018 when Mendoza and Richards each pursued solo projects.
Later on, Mendoza began dating Arjo Atayde. They got married in 2023.
Richards, now 33, has yet to "hard launch" a relationship with anyone, though he had expressed hope of finding his soulmate and getting married by 35.
