Iya Villania to Drew Arellano on 18th anniversary: "What a life I have with you, Love"

Celebrity couple Iya Villania and Drew Arellano shared a throwback photo of the marriage proposal as they celebrate their 8th anniversary.

What can you read in this article?

• The throwback photo of Drew’s marriage proposal
• Iya Villania and Drew Arellano love story
• How they strengthen their relationship as a married couple

They say showbiz marriages don’t last long, which is why we’re always happy to report about couples who continue to defy the odds. One good example is celebrity couple Drew Arellano and Iya Villania who just celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary.

Iya Villania shares throwback photo of Drew’s marriage proposal

To commemorate their 8th year as a married couple, Iya posted on her Instagram account a throwback photo of the moment that her then-boyfriend, now-husband Drew Arellano asked her to marry him.

The actress and celebrity mom recalled how it felt so surreal at that time, but now with 3 kids (Primo, age 5, Alonzo, age 3, and Alana, age 1) and another one on the way, it could not be more real.

“Took awhile for it to sink in when you finally proposed (even if I was waiting in anticipation during the trip! But I think now, with 3 kids in and another on the way, it couldn’t be more real. What a life I have with you, love @drewarellano  18yrs together, 8yrs married and still forever to go. Love you beb, happy anniversary,” wrote Iya.

She also shared a quick trivia of where the proposal happened and how Drew had a hard time keeping the surprise from her as she already had an inkling that he was going to propose.

Trivia: He was supposed to propose to me on the dock in the background (right where my nose is), but it was so cold I didn’t want to go there. So instead, he proposed to me in the castle that no one else really wanted to go to but me. Also, he was struggling trying to keep it a surprise from me coz I kept on asking where he’d propose!” she added.

Iya Villania and Drew Arellano love story and how they stay strong as a married couple

As mentioned in her post, Iya Villania and Drew Arellano celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary, but the couple has already been together for 18 years. The couple dated for 10 years before they tied the knot in 2014.

Iya and Drew were paired up as a love team for a youth-oriented show before they got together in real life. In a previous interview, the celebrity mom revealed that she didn’t think she’d end up with Drew at first because he wasn’t really her type. But after they got married, she realized that he possessed all the qualities that she wanted in a man, and in a partner.

“So, nagsimula kaming love team but I never thought that I would actually marry Drew. Kasi hindi naman ‘yan yung type ko,” she shared. “But, now that we’re married, you know what? He turned out to be everything that I wanted. Alam mo, mars, ‘yong nakakatuwa, even including becoming the athlete that he is, the businessman that he is, you know, these are all things that I never realized that I wanted and it’s what he is,” Iya added.

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So what’s their secret to having a strong marriage and a happy relationship? In an interview with fellow celebrity couple Slater Young and Kryz Uy, Iya and Drew revealed what they believe contributes to having a strong partnership.

Iya thinks that their ten-year relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend built a strong foundation for them as a married couple.

“I think that we built a pretty strong foundation because you know it wasn’t an easy 10, but because we made it through that and we reached the point where we were so sure we wanted to grow old with each other, parang anything after that [would be easy],” she said.

Meanwhile, Drew thinks that it’s important to be 100 percent whole and sure of yourself as a person to be able to give your best to your partner. Being on his own at a young age taught Drew to have an independent mindset, and that helped him to not be needy for Iya’s attention while she’s in this phase of being a mom to 3 small kids.

“I left the house started my own business when I was 20 and I had that independent mindset. My mindset is I’m 100% but when you [Iya] entered my life, I’m 200%. But on my own I’m still 100%,” he shared.

Iya added that when they were still boyfriend-girlfriend, there was a point that she was so busy in her career that she had no time for Drew. But instead of being needy and demanding about it, Drew also set his mind on something to keep him busy.

“That’s when Drew got into triathlon and he was like ‘OK ‘di mo ko bibigyan ng time I’ll put my time elsewhere so I’ll put my time in triathlon,” she shares jokingly. “So when we became parents, it wasn’t so hard on him when my attention again was given to someone else — Primo, Leon and Alana,” she added.

Happy Anniversary, Drew and Iya! Stay strong!