Rhaila Tomakin moves past Kyline-Kobe issue to focus on career

— After setting the record straight on her alleged involvement in the Kyline Alcantara-Kobe Paras breakup controversy, Rhaila Tomakin is moving forward and focusing on her showbiz career. 

The 20-year-old newbie artist, who is signed with O/C Records owned by Kean Cipriano and wife Chynna Ortaleza, previously released the single Bite and acted in a Viva One project.

“The genre of my first song is pop. But in my future songs, I’m hoping to find my own sound, maybe mixing afro, R&B, latin and everything that I love listening to,” said Rhaila, who lived and studied in Dumaguete and then Dubai, before moving back to the Philippines to pursue a career in entertainment.

“It’s definitely one of my passions. I love acting and performing. I would love to share that with the world,” she said.

She said she’s also ready for the controversies that could come with her showbiz career. True enough, she had a “big taste” of it after being tagged as the third party in the breakup of athlete Kobe Paras and Kapuso star Kyline Alcantara, whose respective camps — Kobe’s mom, former actress Jackie Forster and GMA Network — previously issued statements on the matter. 

With the support of O/C Records, Rhaila decided to finally air her side after weeks of speculation. 

“Here we are now (laughs). If it’s there, it’s there. I had a big taste (of controversy already),” she said. 

“But I feel like, for me, I just surrounded myself with people who make you feel better. The world is such a negative place, it’s just important to surround yourself with people that make you stay authentically yourself,” she said on how she handled the “online hate.”

Saying she’s “absolutely single,” Rhaila clarified her relationship with the son of actor-comedian and former basketball star Benjie Paras.

“We’re friends,” she said in the interview with select press, including The STAR. “We’re still friends to this day.”

“Kobe is such a great guy and a very good friend. But that’s about it.”

She also addressed assumptions she intentionally inserted herself into the ex-couple’s relationship. It can be recalled that Rhaila was spotted together with Kobe in Bali, Indonesia amid news of his split with Kyline.

“I don’t wanna disrespect anyone by saying their feelings weren’t valid. But for me, personally, I really wasn’t trying to insert myself or hurt anyone’s feelings. It was just a matter of same place,  same time, we had a simple moment, and I don’t read too much into it. That was simply it,” explained Rhaila.

Amid the chaos online, she said Kobe offered support. “Honestly, when everything blew up, Kobe was a good support system…. He was really there for me. He told me, ‘If you see anything, just block them right away.’ And that’s exactly what I did. He knew that it was because of him that I was getting trapped into this. He was very helpful talaga.”

Rhaila also bared that after being accused of being a third party, things got so out of hand that she allegedly began receiving death threats that she feared returning to the Philippines.

“I was getting death threats on all my social media accounts… even on email! I just deleted everything. It reached a point where I was afraid to come back to the Philippines,” she admitted.

Addressing the criticisms and hate comments, she reminded everyone how easy it is to twist things online.

“To all those people that have the time to leave hate, stalk my account, or hate anyone, I suggest that you strengthen your life force, find your passion, put energy into something that will benefit you because you’ll probably never gonna meet me.

“You have no idea what goes on in people’s lives and it’s so easy to misconstrue something you see online… Everything just gets blown out of proportion,” she lamented.