In an interview aired during the July 4 episode of the morning talk show KrisTV, Charice’s girlfriend, X Factor Philippines contestant Alyssa Quijano, spoke for the first time about how their controversial relationship came to be.

"Basta nagkaroon lang po kami ng communication. Through Facebook lang po, kamustahan. Tapos ayun hanggang sa nagka-kwentuhan kami noon (We just started communicating with each other. We would tell each other how we’re doing on Facebook, and then we started talking to each other more)," the singer was quoted as saying in an article on ABS-CBNNews.com.

But when KrisTV host Kris Aquino asked why Charice’s mom, Raquel Pempengco, disapproves of Alyssa, Charice spared her girlfriend from answering, saying that it stemmed from their former status as rivals in singing contests.

"Ang mahirap kasi dito 'yung main theme na sinasabi ng mommy ko is magka-kumpetensiya kami before sa mga singing contest. So parang 'yun; 'yung medyo hindi namin ma-get kasi parang iniisip niya ay magkalaban talaga. So siguro shocked siya at hindi ini-expect (What’s difficult in this situation is that we used to be rivals in singing contests, so my mommy still thinks that we’re enemies. So maybe she’s shocked, and she also didn’t expect this)," the international singer revealed.

Alyssa and Charice used to compete against each other in several singing competitions when they were younger, including Little Big Star, the 2005 talent search where Charice first gained fame. The two met again after seven years when Alyssa joined X Factor, where Charice appeared as a judge-mentor.

(Photo courtesy of PEP.ph)