Basketball hottie and model David Semerad is utterly blessed with a lot of good things.
First, he and his twin brother Anthony have landed their first TV hosting gig via TV5's new show, Celebrity Dance Battle, where they serve as Lucy Torres-Gomez's co-hosts.
About his new job, David says: "It's exciting. It's something new for me and Anthony, and we're really very thankful that TV5 gave us this break."
At the show's press conference held on March 13, David looked extremely happy. One reason is because he's madly in love with his girlfriend, Gwendoline Ruais.
David and the former Miss World 2011 first princess have been dating for more than a year now. He tells PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), in an interview, the story of how they met.
"The first time I saw her was at the office of ALV," David says, referring to his talent manager Arnold Vegafria, who also looks after Gwendoline's career.
"So, what happened was... I think that was in December, and I went to the office to see Arnold, and Gwen was sitting there, and I was, like, 'Wow! This girl looks really nice.'
"I was too shy to talk to her and ask who she was. I didn't know who she was. After that, we met... Well, I saw her again at Seventh High, for their second anniversary."
Seventh High is a famous club located in the Bonifacio Global City area.
"So, I saw Gwen there, I said hello lang. After that, I went back to Australia and she went to France."
Both David and Gwen are half-Filipinos. David spent most of his childhood in Australia, although his father is actually a citizen of the Czech Republic; while Gwendoline's father is French.
"So, we weren't here for one month, and after a month, I saw her again at the Camay event in Opus in Resorts World. We met there, tapos we bumped into each other in the elevator on the way to the venue.
"She was alone, so I didn't want to be rude, so I talked to her, and I practically took care of her.
"We talked about... Well, she was talking about not being able to sleep because of the jetlag, because she came from France, so I advised her to take medication, and she said, 'Yeah, I'l take that.'
"So, after that, I gave her my number and we exchanged numbers..."
It seemed like a really smooth move for David to get a girl's phone number, but he says it wasn't his intention at all.
"Smooth ba?" he chuckled. "No, no, really my hands were shaking and I was really nervous.
"I mean, it may sound like I was acting really cool, but inside, I was sweating, I was really nervous. My legs were shaking.
"So, there, we switched numbers, and then we left na. And then, I didn't text her right away because it was late at night and I didn't want to disturb her or anything, and, again, I was too shy to text her even though I really wanted to.
"So, I didn't text her that night, but when I woke up the very next morning, I already had three long pages of text message from her.
"I was really excited and so happy that I got a text from her!
"She just basically thanked me for helping her out with the sleeping problem, although she still couldn't sleep that night, but, yeah, and then we got to talk more.
"So, from there, I decided to invite her to go on a date, and then we started dating, and until now we're still together."
The admiration for one another turned out to be mutual, David says, that it didn't take long for them to jump into a relationship after a few dates.
"How long was the dating process? Actually, parang already on the first date when we went out, I felt that there was a connection already.
"We went out on a few more dates after, and after about three weeks, I asked her already if she can be my girlfriend and she said yes. Since then, we've been super happy."
David describes his love for Gwen as "love at first sight."
"Yeah, it was love at first sight, because when I saw her the first two times, I really thought she was too beautiful and I was just too shy to talk to her.
"I didn't know her at all. I've never heard of her before and I didn't know that she was in Miss World, I didn't know... because I was just new in the Philippines then, and I thought she might have a boyfriend because, you know, she's so beautiful, so I didn't really approach her or anything.
"But, I already liked her then, so... And then after that, we started texting, and then dating, and so... It's been good. We're doing great."
David was simply the picture of a guy who sincerely falls in love with hir girl as days go by.
He smiled a lot when asked about the qualities that he likes most about Gwen.
"Ah, you know, there's really a lot of good qualities about her.
"She's super, super smart. You know, she's very well-rounded as a person, like, if I need help with anything, she knows what to do.
"And she's very kind, like, she's always willing to help. Like, if I need help with my homework or my assignments, she'd help me with it."
David is currently studying Business Marketing and Communications in San Beda College.
"She's also super friendly and outgoing, so she's really the perfect girlfriend."
Apparently, Gwendolyn is David's "first serious relationship."
"I've dated other girls before, but it's only with Gwen that I felt this connection, that 'Wow, I really like this girl.'"
"Maybe it helped with the connection, because I'm half-European and she's half-European as well, so I guess there's a connection there.
"Maybe with the culture, you know, because we grew up in that same half-Pinoy, half-European culture.
"And I guess it helps a lot, too, that she's tall!
"Well, not that it really matters if the girl is short or tall. As long as she has a great personality, I'm okay.
"I got super lucky with Gwen because she has everything that I want."