Apparently, Jericho Rosales first thought that he couldn’t date Janine Gutierrez. But it’s not about anything too complicated. It was primarily because Echo thought Janine was just 24 years old—which was a major no-no for the actor.

Don’t get us wrong, though. Echo seemed to be cool with dating someone younger than him. But he seems to have set a limit with regard to how young his partner can be. So when someone told him that Janine’s only 24 years old, the (almost) 45-year-old celebrity was ready to drop his interest in the actress.

The revelation about it started when TV personality, Karen Davila, shifted their 30-minute vlog interview to Echo and Janine’s blossoming romance at the moment. Karen had expressed how happy she was hearing their dating news, further describing Janine as someone with so much beauty and purity.

“I agree with you on that, the purity part. So pure, I thought she was 24! EJ said, my make-up artist, ‘She’s 24.’ And I said, ‘What?! Okay, bye,’ [laughs] Alam mo ‘yon? Bye, I’m not dating a 24-year-old girl,” Echo energetically told Karen during the vlog.

Echo reenacted how he literally looked up Janine online to find out if she was really 24 years old. Fortunately for him, he found out that Janine was 10 years older than what was initially revealed to him. “I Google, Google, Google, Google…Oh, okay pwede pala. Pwede pa pala,” he shared. Janine is actually turning 35 years old already on October 2!

Screengrabbed from Instagram/sjcea via Instagram/janinegutierrez

Jericho Rosales Talks About His Work Meeting-Turned-First Date With Janine Gutierrez

ICYMI, Echo and Janine are co-stars in the new teleserye, Lavender Fields. In fact, Janine is Echo’s “work wife,” as he calls it. Janine plays Iris, Tyrone’s wife in the series. Tyrone is the character that Echo’s portraying. It’s no secret that their romance began just when they started preparing for their roles in Lavender Fields—which is why people thought they were dating just to promote their series. But they’re the real deal ATM.

Echo admitted that he immediately saw how Janine was such a ball of sunshine during the first days of their promo shoots. It was his very first time to work with Janine. And so one day, when he realized how close they’d be working together, the actor thought of inviting Janine for a one-on-one script reading. Probs to ease some unnecessary tension (if there ever was) and to get comfy with each other.

Echo recalled how a supposed work meeting with Janine became a six-hour (!) first date. “One day I had asked her, ‘Would you like to do a script reading with me?’ I’m sure she has her own version of the story. But why would I ask for a script reading? She’s the only person I haven’t worked with. […] She was going to be my work wife, my wife in the show. All of the decisions that my character was going to do in the show was because of the relationship that they have. This is not some easy working relationship. We needed to ano, so I said in my head: ‘Oh, coffee! Script reading and coffee!”

When they met at a cafe, at 3 p.m. (specifically!), Echo recounts how Janine laughed at him after he brought out his iPad. “She said, ‘Holy god, you have an iPad.’ I said, ‘Yes, this is a work meeting,’” Echo narrated to Karen while laughing.

One thing led to another, so after six hours, they never got to open the iPad, nor did they have the “work meeting” Echo planned to do. (Or did he really? JK.) But that script reading turned a six-hour chat at a cafe became the start of something new for Echo and Janine.

Echo remarked, “Wow, I can spend six hours talking to this girl…that’s when I felt something.”