She’s had many dashing onscreen partners in her illustrious drama stints but Julia Montes always had this ultimate “leading man” in real life.
He’s none other than the most special and dearest man in her life, her long-lost German dad Martin Schnittka.
Her ever-loyal followers know that her real name is Mara Hautea –Schnittka and that she only got to see him for the first time in 2016, when she’s already 21 years old!
In his interview with the King of Talk on Tonight With Boy Abunda in 2017, she disclosed that it was the CocoJuls (or the fans of her team-up with Coco Martin) who helped her in tracking down her dad. A cousin of hers named Michelle Lloyd became the bridge for them to finally meet December of that year in a restaurant in Cubao, Quezon City, along with her stepmother and younger brother.
That meeting was followed by their short yet fun vacation in El Nido, Palawan when her Papa Martin and his family went back to the Philippines a year after to celebrate their first Father’s Day together. There, they were able to make up with the time they’ve lost and discovered that they actually share a lot of similarities with one another.
A year after, Julia was able to spend Father’s Day with him again, but that time in London since she was in Scotland then for the Kapamilya Fiesta World event of The Filipino Channel and ABS-CBN Regional.
The father-daughter tandem definitely had a great time roaming around the tourist attractions in the famous city as seen in the snaps and clips uploaded on their Instagram page. They rode a merry-go-round, went inside a museum, hopped on the popular London Eye, and even visited St. Paul’s Cathedral, wherein her Daddy Martin gave her a Paddington Bear stuffed toy as a gift.
She also gifted him a mug with the statement “This is what an amazing dad looks like” emblazoned on it, as seen on the photo of him that she posted on IG and wrote in the caption “Yes it is! Happy Father’s Day Papa…the only man I will ever love this much.”
On that same year, right after the conclusion of her Kapamilya Gold series Asintado, she reportedly flew to Germany to take her well-deserved break with his dad and his family. She had her hiatus for more than a year and just went back this January to film her latest teleserye 24/7.
They won’t be able to spend Father’s Day together this year because of the current situation, but we’re hoping that their celebration this year will be as special as what they did in the previous years!