If there’s one couple that comes to mind when talking about the best modern showbiz pairings, it’s Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla.
With their catchy shipname KathNiel and their opposites-attract personalities, these two have proven that it’s possible to grow up in a healthy and loving relationship while in showbiz.
Recently, they celebrated their 10th anniversary in the industry – and we’re here to look back on their momentous journey from teenhood to celebrated individual artists.
2011 – Growing Up
Before their first project together, Kathryn and Daniel were paired up in the teenybopper afternoon series, Growing Up. Kathyrn played a volleyball player named Elle while Daniel portrayed her teammate named Patrick.
2012 – Princess and I
Sensing their chemistry from the show, the two landed a primetime spot in the royal-themed teleserye, Princess and I. Kathryn’s character Mikay was torn between choosing Daniel’s Gino, Enrique Gil’s Jao, and Khalil Ramos’ Kiko.
At the end, the crowd-favorite and best friend character Gino won over Mikay’s hearts – and viewers were overjoyed with her choice. Nine years later, we guess we can say that Kathryn continues to choose Daniel.
2013 – Must be… Love and Pagpag
Though they haven’t announced their relationship, Kathryn and Daniel continued to be paired up in their first film under Star Cinema. Fun fact: Liza Soberano also portrayed the couple’s onscreen third party for this film, a few years before she was paired with Enrique Gil.
They also starred in the MMFF horror film Pagpag as supporting characters.
2014 – She’s Dating The Gangster
2014 served as a big break for the pair, as they set off fireworks and box office records with their Wattpad-inspired film She’s Dating The Gangster.
Their acting skills were put to the test with the movie’s emotional scenes, but the two played off each other’s strengths from over three years of working together.
The film went on to earn P296M in the box office and put the KathNiel name on the map.
2015 – Crazy Beautiful You
Riding off their box office success, the pair continued to make a series of nonstop annual movies starting with 2015’s Crazy Beautiful You. Dating rumors also followed the pair but they were quick to dispel the allegations.
2016 – Barcelona: A Love Untold
Nothing beats a first kiss! Wanting to break free from their teenybopper personas, Barcelona: A Love Untold sees Kathyrn and Daniel sharing their first onscreen kiss.
2017 – Can’t Help Falling In Love
Following in the footsteps of more matured roles, this Mae Czarina Cruz-directed film sees the two actors in a comedic marriage setup.
This was also around the time that they first started sharing vacation photos on social media – putting fans into a bigger frenzy over their real relationship score.
2018 – The Hows Of Us
Who could forget that iconic rain scene where these two actors poured their hearts out? The Hows Of Us continued to solidify KathNiel’s acting chops and box office midas touch to the tune of P810 million.
It was also this year that the two confirmed that they had indeed been dating for several years, further prompting the hype for the film.
2019 – Kathryn flies solo for Hello, Love, Goodbye
After over eight years of joint projects, Kathyrn let her wings fly for the Cathy Garcia-Molina-helmed immigrant story of Joy and Ethan. Starring opposite GMA artist Alden Richards, this Hong Kong-based film truly showed off Kathryn’s skills as she won several accolades for the role.
The risk paid off box office-wise as Hello, Love, Goodbye remains the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time at P880.6M.
2020 – The House Arrest Of Us
Time for a reunion! The now-longtime couple debuted their first lock-in taping series The House Arrest Of Us amid the pandemic.
The comedy series premiered on KTX.ph and iWantTFC with 13 episodes and was met with acclaim from fans. With nine years of acting experience between them, the pair easily pulled off the engagement relationship of Korics and Q.
2021 – Vlog appearances and planning the future together
Though the two have been keeping low key on projects amid the pandemic, they’re still regularly seen discussing their future acting plans in Kathryn’s vlog, Everyday Kath.
In one of her recent videos, the 25-year-old actress asked Daniel if he had any regrets on starting their relationship so young, as they had met when they were only 16 and 17, respectively.
“Hindi ah,” Daniel answered firmly. “Wala namang hinahanap na oras ang pagmamahal eh, ‘di ba? Kapag para sa ‘yo, para sa ‘yo. Kahit maaga man o late. Eh nagkataon na tayo maaga so walang problema. At least maagang naibigay sa akin.”
“Wala naman akong na-miss, eh, dahil bago pa rin maging tayo, ako, nagawa ko na rin naman lahat. Lakwatserong bata naman ako. Eh nung kahit tayong dalawa naman, nagawa ko pa rin ‘yung mga gusto ko.“
Upon hearing his answer, Kathryn blushed and hugged her longtime life and acting partner.
Congratulations on 10 years, KathNiel!
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