Albie Casiño hasn’t always had it easy. The actor, who broke into the spotlight in 2011 opposite Kathryn Bernardo as her leading man in the hit series Mara Clara, opened up about the fallout of their love team, as well as the “what ifs” surrounding it.

As a lot of people know, Albie was booted out of a follow-up series with Kath despite the success of their first project since he got caught in a highly-publicized controversy with Andi Eigenmann. The latter, who was in a relationship with the actor, had a pregnancy that was made public, and Albie was said to be the father of the child. It was only in 2016 that it was revealed that Jake Ejercito is the kid’s father, not Albie.

In an interview with Freebie MNL, the actor was asked about the backlash he received from the public during his feud with Andi. To which, he replied, “I don’t feel the need for apologies kasi people form opinions based on what they know. You and everyone else didn’t know the truth, so how can I blame you for forming an opinion when you didn’t have all the facts? It’s nobody’s fault besides [the] people whose fault it is.”

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He was also asked if he ever felt like he “missed out” on a big career had his team-up with Kath continued. “Imposibleng hindi. I wouldn’t have lost [my] position if a certain person didn’t say something wrong. So I guess that’s why people always ask me if I’m okay. Honestly, I am. I don’t look at DJ and think, ‘That should be me,’” he said. “Someone ruined something for me, but my life is perfectly fine now. I choose not to dwell on it. I don’t think about the what-ifs because that won’t change anything.”

He admits that he was oblivious to his mistakes when he was younger. “There was too much going on. Hindi ko totally ma-grasp lahat ng nangyayari. I didn’t understand how big the original version of Mara Clara was. Also, I had no idea that the remake had that much impact, and I was in it!

“I didn’t realize the consequences of my actions. I was only 17 or 18 years old at the time. You can be very volatile at that age, especially when you’re a dude.”

He says he’s all ~grown up~, and he’s never been as authentic. “I know now that if you’re trying to be something, you’re not that thing. You’re trying, eh. You’re not being authentic because that’s not the real you. It’s fake. So now I don’t try to be anything. I just am what I am. When you’re younger, you want to be thought of as ‘cool.’ You want to be invited to parties and stuff like that, so you act a certain way to make that happen,” he recalls.

“But now, I don’t really care about things like that na. Confident na ako sa sarili ko, with who I am as a person. I don’t need as much external validation from my peers. I guess that comes with age.”