Fans of Kapamilya stars JM De Guzman and Arci Muñoz were surely thrilled when the latter posted on Instagram a video clip of the former handing her a bouquet of flowers and asking her if he could court her during their trip to Boracay with her family.
This stirred speculations that their ship has finally sailed, especially when she captioned it: “Just really glad that the whole family was able to witness this beautiful moment. on me vlog tomorrow. #mayforever #frombestfriendstolovers #righttime”. Their followers further believed it when JM also posted a sweet photo of them together and attached love emojis in the caption.
But much to their shippers dismay, it was revealed on Arci’s latest vlog that it was all just a prank. JM’s romantic gesture was actually done to make way for her brother Manolet’s surprise marriage proposal for his girlfriend.
While JM and Arci are one of the best-looking on-screen pairs, both of them have stressed in their previous interviews that they never really considered taking their friendship to the next level.
In their appearance together in I Feel U last year, the versatile leading lady told host Toni Gonzaga, “Ang hirap kasi best friend ko e. Kung pupunta kami sa gano’ng direksyon sa relationship namin, ang hirap na ibalik ng ganitong klaseng relationship namin as friends. Best friend ko e.”
I Feel U: JM & Arci share insights on love-filled friendships
She added, “Sobrang comfortable ko kay JM. Parang wala akong maitatago sa kanya. Parang kapag masama ang loob ko, siya ‘yong unang taong tatawagan ko bukod sa pamilya ko.”
The two first met when they were still Theater Arts students and classmates at the University of the Philippines -Diliman in mid-2000s. Since she wanted to have a gay best friend back then, she went on to hang out with him most of the time assuming that he was gay. But he wasn’t, and he even confessed having a crush on her back then.
In his guesting on Tonight With Boy Abunda in 2019, the sought-after Kapamilya leading man revealed that he actually used to get that comment a lot before as the King of Talk asked him about his more than a decade of friendship with his Pamilya Ko co-star.
WATCH: JM, binalikan noong magkaklase pa lang sila ni Arci sa UP Diliman bago sila maging artista
He didn’t attempt to pursue her, and at the same time, having a boyfriend wasn’t part of her plans then. Besides, she wasn’t allowed by her strict dad and she was being ushered to and from school during those times.
When asked by Toni what they are thankful for about one another, JM expressed, “Prangka po siya sa akin. Kung magsalita siya, diretso sa puso. Siguro sa pagkakilala niya sa akin, nase-sense na niya kahit malayo pa ako kung bad trip ako. Nandiyan siya lagi para i-lead ako, ibalik ulit sa positibo.”
Meanwhile, Arci said that he actually has a lot to be thankful for to her best friend, but his mere existence in her life through the years is the greatest. “Marami po akong maipagpapasalamat kay M kasi hindi niya nakalimutan iyong times noong college days namin na halos kami lang din parati ang magksama. Thankful ako sa kanyang existence kasi napapagaan niya 'yung buhay ko.”
Through the years, we’ve witnessed how happy they are of each other’s company on-and-off-cam. They love to make fun of each other, support one another in their respective endeavors, and never failed to greet one another on their birthdays. And of course, who would forget when they underwent military training together last year, making both of them Philippine Air Force reservists.
They may have shattered their ardent shippers’ dream of seeing them together as a couple, but for sure, a lot of them are still hoping for it to become possible someday. For now, let’s simply content ourselves with their lovely photos as each other’s “bisprin” in this gallery!