ABS-CBN actress Erich Gonzales is now Mrs. Mateo Lorenzo.
Erich and Mateo had been a couple for over two years before they tied the knot at the St. James the Great Parish in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, early this Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
To the public, Mateo seems to have surfaced from out of the blue. Erich had kept their relationship under wraps out of respect for the privacy of the Mateo family.
With their not-so-secret wedding allowing a peek into their private world, it becomes reasonable to ask: Who is Mateo Lorenzo?
PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainmentment Portal) did some background checking and learned 10 things about him. Here they are:
1. His full name is Mateo Rafael Lorenzo.
2. He is now 31 years old. According to his Facebook account, Mateo was born on November 17, 1991.
3. He is the son of business tycoon Martin Ignacio Lorenzo and his wife Maria Leah De Leon.
The patriarch Martin is currently the chairman, president, and CEO of over 18 companies. They are, to name a few, First Lucky Agro-Industrial Corp.; Macondray Philippines Co. Inc.; First Lucky Holdings Corp.; Central Azucarera de Tarlac Inc; (CAT) Resource & Asset Holdings Inc., and RestaurantConcepts Group Inc.
His father previously operated Pancake House and Del Monte Philippines.
4. Mateo comes from a big family.
He has 11 siblings, namely: Diego, Lucas, Maria, Santiago, Basti, MJ, Paola, Andres, Agustin, Julia, and Angelo.
5. Mateo and his siblings grew up in a household without stay-in help.
Martin revealed, "My wife [and I] prepare breakfast for the kids and by 6:15 to 6:30, they are already out of the house, and that is when I prepare all the schedules. However, our eldest is already helping us with our youngest."
The business tycoon added, "Many people don’t understand that the most important thing a child needs is an anchor, the parents just have to be there—they need to know that you’re there whenever they need you.
"But you also always have to watch from a distance because you have to give them enough space to move but not enough rope to hang themselves."
6. Mateo is an Ivy League graduate like his dad.
According to his bio on Instagram, Mateo finished his degree in Management Engineering at the Ateneo de Manila University in 2014, shadowing his dad who graduated from the Ateneo in 1986 with the same degree.
He completed his master's degree in Business Administration at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2021.
His dad finished his MBA at Wharton in 1990.
7. Like his dad, Mateo is also into business.
He is reportedly serving as one of the managing partners of the private equity firm Sierra Madre.
He has also been serving as a board member/officer of CAT since 2014. This is according to a Securities and Exchange Commission form posted on LuisitaSugar.com, the official website of CAT.
8. Mateo has been uploading photos in his Instagram account about his interests, which include golf, traveling, cars, show jumping, and agriculture.
Following reports about his relationship with Erich, Mateo opted to keep his Instagram private.
9. Mateo and Erich started as friends in April 2017.
Rumors about their relationship made headlines in early 2018 when their photo with some friends started circulating on social media.
The actress also shared the story behind the photo in an interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) and other members of the press in March 2018.
She narrated, "I think nag-start iyan kasi may nakita silang picture 'cause I went to Japan for my sister’s exhibit. Painter siya doon.
"And then, matagal na itong naka-block off dahil lagi kong sinasabing walang time and all but, ito, thank you sa Blood Sisters kasi pinayagan nila for two days lang.
"And then, my sister invited him also, so he followed."
Erich also confirmed that she was being courted by someone whom she described then as "consistent and persistent."
She did give a clue about her boyfriend's background: "Kapatid po siya ng boyfriend ni Clauie, ni Claudia Barretto.”"
Erich eventually revealed it was Mateo.
10. Mateo kept a low-key relationship with Erich.
In a vlog on YouTube last July 2019, the Blood Sisters actress did not directly confirm her relationship with Mateo, but claimed she was happy with her love life.
In Erich's words, "I don’t wanna ruin it, so sa akin na lang yun."
The couple has only been spotted a few times.
Erich was Mateo's date at Julia Barretto's 22nd birthday party in March 2019.
In January 2020, they were spotted again at Star Magic handler Love Capulong's birthday party.
Mateo and Erich got engaged in secret. Fans only found out about Erich's wedding after photos of wedding bans circulated online last February 19, 2022.
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