Kathryn Bernardo now proud to be a morena, overcomes insecurities with BF Daniel Padilla’s help

Actress Kathryn Bernardo, who recently uploaded on Instagram photos of herself looking hot in a two-piece swimsuit, admitted that it took her a long while to gain confidence about showing her body and to accept the color of her skin.

She added that Daniel Padilla, her boyfriend of 10 years, had been a big part of this change. "He was able to block all of my self-doubts and insecurities over the years. It took a while before I learned to accept my skin color and embrace all of my insecurities. Now, I feel so much better," said the 26-year-old morena.

She admitted that there were days when she would doubt herself, "but I'm lucky that I have people around me who would remind me of my worth—that's very important," Kathryn added.

Biggest gift to yourself

For girls who might be experiencing the same struggle, Kathryn has this to say: "Surround yourself with family, friends, and people you love. Also, if you're going through something, don't rush. You will learn to overcome this at your own pace, and once you do, this will be the biggest gift you could give yourself."

Kathryn and Daniel, collectively known as KathNiel, are currently doing a teleserye titled "2 Good 2 Be True." Kathryn plays Ali, a dedicated daughter to her mom Margie (Gelli de Belen).

Asked how she is able to pay tribute to her real-life mom, Min Bernardo, through the series, the actress said: "For sure, a lot of mothers and daughters will be able to relate to the story of Ali and Margie. However, their relationship is the opposite of what I have with my Mama. Ali is very serious. There are even times when her mom is more makulit than her. My Mama and I are like barkada.

Mom-daughter relationships

"I like it that I'm able to experience different kinds of mom-daughter relationships. When I'm on the set, I get to spend time with a different kind of mom. Now that I've thought about this, I realized how lucky I am," pointed out Kathryn, adding that there's another interesting relationship between Daniel's character Eloy and his mom Heart (Irma Adlawan) as well.

"I'm proud of the show in the sense that it is full of values that are uniquely Filipino. The production team has found a creative way of incorporating each of them in the series. Hopefully, when the audience, especially those who belong to the younger generation, watches the show, they get to pick up all these positive things from it. A lot of the scenes in the series are based on real-life experiences—like how family members argue but eventually patch things up. Hopefully, we are able to represent all this accurately." INQ

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