How Being A Breadwinner Changed The Way Nadine Lustre Thinks About Motherhood

Nadine Lustre has been having the time of her life with her current boyfriend, Chris Bariou. In an episode of the Almost Honest podcast with host Kylie Verzosa, Nadine happily shared that she and Chris have been together for around five years now. Naturally, fans have been wondering if wedding bells are next. Nadine admitted back in January that they're not rushing anything, but she's undeniably confident that Chris is her endgame.

As their relationship continues to grow stronger, Nadine is also navigating this chapter with more intention and a clearer sense of what she wants. In the same interview with Kylie, the Internet-deemed "President Nadine" remained sure that motherhood isn't something she's thinking about just yet.

"I'm a breadwinner kasi. I still am. And I'm always going to be proud of that... I was a breadwinner at a very young age. When I was 12 kasi, that's when I started doing commercials, mga gano'n. So I was able to put my siblings, my brothers to school. And it always felt so good being able to help at that age, you know, that you are going to provide and just help your parents. It felt good. And even until now it feels good."

While she's grateful to be in a position where she can support her family, Nadine feels that being a breadwinner for so long has made her want to spend more time taking care of herself before taking on another major responsibility.

"But I realized that I've always been taking care of other people, so I have that parang I don't know how to describe it, parang I just feel like, as soon as this is all over, I want to take care of myself. I also want to take care of myself. Like, I want to do things for myself. I don't want another responsibility. I don't want to take care of another person. It's really that."

Nadine has been consistently open about her choice. Back in January, she shared the same sentiment in a vlog with her Call Me Mother co-star Vice Ganda. "Actually, ayoko talagang mag-anak. Yun talaga," Nadine directly told Vice. "Pero kung mangyayari, kung ibibigay sa'kin, tatanggapin ko naman."

Nadine also sees motherhood as a lifelong commitment that can feel scary if you're not truly ready for it. "Parang hindi ko lang kaya. Takot lang din ako na, kasi, magre-raise ka ng tao eh. Siyempre, responsible ka diyan. Hindi siya laruan lang eh. Hindi lang siya cute. Hindi lang para makita mong may kamukha ka," Nadine expressed. "It's such a huge responsibility na takot ako pag nagkamali ako."

Fast forward to the present, Nadine shared in her interview with Kylie that Chris does want kids someday, so she's not completely closing any doors. Right now, she's simply making the most of this chapter before taking on another serious responsibility. "It's really just that, na parang I feel like I have so much more that I want to do in life. Things that I wanna do for myself."

If Nadine's recent interviews are any indication, she and Chris seem to be in a good place in their relationship. In fact, she even told Karen Davila during an interview for her latest TV series Love, Siargao with Alden Richards, that Chris would probably be her last relationship.

"I'm very happy with where I'm at. Ito talaga, taga niyo sa bato, if Chris and I break up pa, ayoko na mag-jowa. Pagod na ako. No, but really, I told myself that. Parang, sabi ko, if this is not the last relationship that I will have, I'm probably gonna be single for the rest of my life."

We're definitely here for Nadine and Chris' relationship, and we're also here for how unapologetic Nadine is about her choices. At the end of the day, motherhood isn't a deadline, and she's reminding us that it's okay to choose yourself first.