‘I promised not to leave him even if I win’: Rabiya confirms 6-year relationship with first boyfriend

ABS-CBN News - Posted at Nov 02 2020 10:21 PM

Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo is in a six-year relationship with her first boyfriend. Instagram: @rabiyamateo / Bombo Radyo Iloilo

MANILA — Newly crowned Miss Universe Philippines Rabiya Mateo promised her first boyfriend of six years that she won’t leave him, even if she wins the coveted title.

That was Mateo’s candid revelation in an interview with ABS-CBN News, fresh off her coronation as the country’s representative to the international Miss Universe pageant.

“We’ve been dating for six years. He’s my first boyfriend... We’ve been together since college,” Mateo told Dyan Castillejo.

“I can make a man stay!” she quipped.

Mateo, 24, credited her boyfriend as being “very supportive” of her now-realized beauty-queen dreams. Now having won the biggest national crown, Mateo shared that she and her partner had a pact: that she won’t leave him despite the responsibilities and new opportunities that come with the title.

“He made me promise not to leave him even if I win the Miss Universe Philippines crown. I have a video stating that! He made me do that,” she said, laughing.

While Mateo has not posted about her relationship on her public social media accounts, fan pages dedicated to the beauty queen have identified her boyfriend as Neil Salvacion, who also hails from Iloilo City and is reportedly a nurse.

In another interview with Iloilo City’s Bombo Radyo, Mateo similarly shared that she intends to stay committed to her partner despite the crown.

“We will make sure to work things out. If it’s true love, it will never end,” she said.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/11/02/20/i-promised-not-to-leave-him-even-if-i-win-rabiya-confirms-6-year-relationship-with-first-boyfriend