Rafael talks about Denise, her exit from 'Kristine'

"A personal journey."

This was Rafael Rosell's take on the reason why Denise Laurel suddenly left the ABS-CBN primetime drama, "Martha Cecilia's Kristine."

Rumors spread that Denise had left the show because she was pregnant. In this regard, Rafael said he was clueless about Denise's condition and has not heard from the actress since her exit.

Other rumors even linked Rafael as the father of Denise's supposed unborn child, which he quickly denied.

"The answer's no and any further questions I think should be directed to Denise herself," Rafael clarified during the recent press conference of "Tanging Ina Mo, Last Na ‘To," Star Cinema's Metro Manila Film Festival entry this year.

Rafael said he learned about the rumor through Twitter. He said he refuses to believe the rumor unless Denise herself confirms it.

"Ako naman kasi sa mga kaibigan ko, unless I hear the rumors coming straight from their mouth talaga or the truth hindi muna ako naniniwala. I still haven't heard anything from Denise. I don't want to confirm anything," he said.

On issues involving Denise's sudden exit from "Kristine," Rafael thinks that the young actress is only on temporary leave and is still part of the program.

"Siguro yung complications sa situation nya tapos yung story. Yung personal journey na pinagdadaanan nya dahil ako hindi ko talaga alam kung confirmed ba talaga na buntis sya, Hindi, I'm not in the position to talk about it talaga."

In defense, Rafael clarified that Denise does not have any attitude problem on the set of "Kristine."

"Lahat naman ng artista may pinagdadaanang mood na ganun pag sobrang puyat pag sobrang nginangarag pagkatapos hindi pa ready. So I think it's just a natural reaction to anybody na magreact pero in terms of attitude problem wala namang ganun si Denise. Lahat kami may ganun pag umaga na pag puyat na."

When asked if he's still in constant communication with Denise, Rafael said, "No, I haven't been able to catch up with her lately kasi puro taping, puro trabaho and she's going through her own personal journey din."

Earlier, Arnold Vegafria, Denise's manager, recently explained the actress' side of the story in an interview with ABS-CBN's "Showbiz News Ngayon (SNN)."

"As of last week we were together. I didn't see any changes sa katawan nya. I asked about it, sabi niya ‘Oy look at me I'm still sexy, bakit may mga rumors na lumalabas na I'm pregnant?', Vegafria told SNN.

"She's out of Kristine because it's part of the story but I don't know kung kailan yung balik niya. Nagiging daring and daring lang ata yung role nya so some of their scenes hindi nya magawa. May questions lang hindi naman siya nagpapaka ‘diva' sa set ng ‘Kristine' it's just that maybe siguro parang some of the scene hindi nya pa kayang magawa so yun lang. Uncomfortable pa siya," Vegafria added.

Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN