The breakup of Diego Loyzaga and Barbie Imperial came as no surprise.
Though they exchanged sweet messages via social media on their first anniversary as a couple last December 12, 2021, their closest friends would say they had been having problems.
And they both tried to save the relationship, but in the end, chose to break up.
Here's a look back on Diego and Barbie's isang-taong pag-ibig.
How Diego and Barbie's relationship started
They met in 2018 and became friends.
"Pero that time, wala kaming ano, something. Ano lang, friends lang talaga kami," Barbie said before adding, "Pero, crush ko siya noon."
They would often hang out and go on beach trips together, but they were always accompanied by friends.
Diego then recalled, "Parang na-friendzone kaming dalawa sa isa't isa."
When he took a two-year break from showbiz, he and Barbie continued to stay in touch. She would constantly check up on him to see how he was doing.
However, it was not easy to see each other since the pandemic happened, so the two took to playing "Call of Duty" together online.
Sometime in November 2020, when Barbie posted a bikini photo of herself in Instagram, Diego exclaimed: "waw".
Actor Marco Gumabao, who happens to be Barbie's cousin, reacted to Diego's comment with a thinking emoji.
Diego's reply was a grinning emoji with sweat.
Finally, on January 1, 2021, Diego took to Instagram to announce that he and Barbie were officially a couple.
He uploaded a photo of them embracing by the beach and wrote, "Happy new year to us [heart emoji] thanks for making the end of my 2020 memorable. Lets gooo 2021!! :)"
For Barbie's part, she shared how happy she was to have found "love and friendship" with Diego.
The actor even admitted to being head over heels in love, and had marriage as their end goal.
Issues between the two circulated online
In November 2021, self-proclaimed Marites Xian Gaza posted a blind item saying a guy and a girl met up in a hotel, and they were busted by the guy's girlfriend.
Some netizens speculated that Barbie could be one of the girls because afterwards, Xian posted on his social-media account multiple times: “Good night po sa lahat except kay Barbie Imperial.”
He also reposted a screenshot of an article by PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) with the title, "Diego Loyzaga, nakikita si Barbie Imperial na magiging ina ng kanyang mga anak." In reposting the article, Xian wrote, “HOW SWEET NAMAN... VERY STRONG RELATIONSHIP.”
He also commented, “Just woke up. Magandang araw po sa lahat except kay Diego Loyzaga.”
Another post was directed at Diego, as Xian wrote, “Diego Loyzaga, may gusto lang sana akong itanong. Bakit ka bumibisita sa bahay nila AJ Raval sa Pampanga habang hinihintay ka ni Barbie Imperial sa Manila? Curious lang. Ito ay ayon mismo sa ama ni AJ na si Jeric Raval. Ano ginawa mo sa bahay nila?”
Diego and sexy actress AJ Raval were co-stars in the film Death of a Girlfriend.
In what seemed to be a response to Xian's posts, Diego took to Instagram with a photo of him and Barbie and wrote, "Don't get caught up in all that noise. It's just noise."
Barbie, for her part, slammed AJ for being silent and not revealing the truth.
In her interview with Boy Abunda, she said, “Alam mo naman na hindi ka gusto ng boyfriend ko."
AJ replied with a cryptic post showing a photo of a monkey-looking human with the caption, "Her boyfriend."
A few weeks after the incident, AJ denied the rumors linking her to Diego.
Diego and Barbie celebrated their first anniversary prior to break-up
After the issues surrounding them died down a little, the couple celebrated their first anniversary, with Diego even creating an extravagant surprise for Barbie.
However, in February 2022, Barbie confirmed to ABS-CBN that she and Diego broke up, but they remain on good terms.
Currently, Diego is in the United States, while Barbie is here in the Philippines.
In the virtual press conference of The Goodbye Girl, Barbie talked about the lessons she learned about love.
She said, “Pag naririnig natin yung mahalin mo muna ang sarili mo bago ka magmahal ng iba, parang gasgas na, di ba?
“Pero yung natutunan ko sa mga past relationships ko was kailangan mo pala talagang mahalin ang sarili mo. Totoo pala yun.”
Was she pertaining to her relationship with Diego? Can fans still hope for their reconciliation? Only time will tell.